I was always really into acting and singing as a kid. Performing was my favorite thing in the whole entire world, and I constantly dreamed of one day being on Broadway.

A new girl moved to my town in elementary school. I thought she was really cool because she wore Limited Too and spoke with authority.

One day she made an offhanded comment about how theater is lame, and it’s not ok to do theater. As an impressionable ten year old desperate to be this girl’s best friend, I agreed with her.

By the end of high school I finally realized that I had allowed this notion to be completely ingrained into my entire existence. Theater was clearly really bad, and it was not something that was okay for me to like. I actually believed this. It wasn’t until I was able to acknowledge how much her fleeting comment affected me that I could start to gradually pursue performing again.