Why Acting?

Acting has surrounded my life since I realized what it felt like to find happiness in
productivity. A certain type of happiness that everyone strives for and plans their futures around.
I’ve thought long and hard about explaining this happiness in an essay format. I knew I could
write articles, maybe even novels about “Why Acting?” and I’ve rifled through all the
stereotypes: The magic of storytelling, the tight-knit community I was swept up into, the
adrenaline and belonging I feel onstage and onscreen. And although all these stereotypes are true
to me, as most stereotypes were usually birthed from truths themselves, above all, the reason I’ve
surrounded my whole life with acting is just that: I love it. An immense, intuitive, inexorable
love that I feel, and always felt, for the auditioning process, grinding lines into my brain,
researching settings, becoming characters, and performing my heart out. The community is
immersive and, sure, the afterparties and applause can be a hoot, but above that is the art and that
is what I truly cannot live without. That is what I find myself dreaming about when I space out
and yearning for when I am bored. My simple, unadorned, unvarnished love for acting.
Throughout my life, since I discovered my passion for acting in 7th grade, musical
theatre has been the key directive in leading my life to where I find myself now. However, I
cannot deny that acting in itself, above the other factors of being a triple threat, is what I truly
long to do for the rest of my life. Watching acting on screen is what brought me into musicals on
the stage and the love I’ve obtained for acting has kept me there. I have always enjoyed the
dramatic plays we perform at my school more than the musicals. And when we performed
musicals, such as A Chorus Line, I found an immense passion for my somber 10-minute
monologue, compared to the grand dance numbers or beautiful songs. Whether it be a drive to
storytelling, a passion for emerging myself into a character, or the unconditional and
indescribable love that I cannot help but feel for the art, I know this is where I belong and where
I intend to stay for the rest of my life.