Revelation After Today's Meeting

Life Support
Steve, Gordon, AliPam, Sue, hi, I'm AngelTom, Collins, I'm PaulLet's begin
There's only usThere's only this
"Sorry, excuse me, oops""And you are?""Oh, I'm not, I'm just here to, I don't have"I'm here with Mark, Mark, I'm Mark"
"Well, this is quite an operation""Sit down, MarkWe'll continue the affirmation"
Forget, regret or life is yours to miss
"Excuse me, PaulI'm having a problem with this, this credoMy T-cells are lowI regret that news, okay?"
"Alright""But Gordon, how do you feel today?""What do you mean?""How do you feel today?""Okay"
"Is that all""Best I've felt all year""Then why choose fear?"I'm a New Yorker""Fear's my life"
"Look, I find some of what you teach suspectBecause I'm used to relying on intellectBut I try to open up to what I don't know"
Because reason saysI should've died three years ago
No other roadNo other wayNo day but today

Read more: RENT - LIFE SUPPORT LYRICS 

What I Did For Love

RRS was and has been a huge part of my life – it’s responsible for many of my best friends, first loves, and heartbreaks of varying kinds. It was where I grew up. The Zombie Prom soundtrack is playing in the background as I write this.

But unlike many RRS alums, I am not pursuing a career in theatre, and I do not live in New York. For the last nearly five years, I’ve lived in Chicago, where I own and operate two companies in the digital marketing arena, Digital4Startups Inc. and DigitalGroundUp Inc.

While Chicago has been a great town for theatre, and I cannot gush enough about the Broadway in Chicago “season tickets” my boyfriend and I have had for the last two years (under $100 gets you tickets to 5-6 shows per season), RRS has also been a part of how I got my career to where it is.

RRS is where I developed and honed a lot of my work ethic. I used to run from lacrosse or fencing practice straight to rehearsals. I have been picked up at the airport, done my stage makeup in the car, and arrived at the Y in time for the second act. One show I juggled lacrosse tryouts, tech crew for a production at my high school and tech week at the same time. In college, I took the train down from Boston nearly every weekend to participate in the West Side Story Revival. And when I got my college acceptance letter, the first place I went was rehearsal.

You can say I was crazy. I was. But I did it all out of love. I did it because I wanted to. My parents were never involved with RRS, so it was always my own passion project. And through ups and downs, love and hate, successes and total heartbreaks, I worked really really hard.

In return, I’ve walked away with some of the most incredible friendships that mean everything to me.  I’m not nearly as naïve as I was before. I can multi-task. And I know what it means to work hard for something that you really want and are passionate about.

A year ago, I founded not one but two companies. DigitalGroundUp is an interactive technology platform designed to teach digital marketing. It’s not live yet, but it has already won a few awards. Digital4Startups is a digital marketing consulting agency, while I develop DigitalGroundUp. Juggling companies and juggling clients is like juggling shows and practices and homework. Some days it goes better than others. But if you work hard and stay true to yourself, I’ve found that at the end of the day, things just have a way of coming together.

“Gone,
Love is never gone.
As we travel on,
Love's what we'll remember.
Kiss today goodbye,
And point me t'ward tomorrow.
We did what we had to do.
Won't forget, can't regret
What I did for
Love” – A Chorus Line