A Woman of Many Names

A Woman of Many Names

          So you came to Averett University in the fall of 2010. It was a school you had never heard of and it was a fresh start. Let me tell you Little Lindsey, you come to college as an English Major. What you thought you were going to do with an English degree was beyond me but you guessed you were going to teach. You are pretty darn good at English. 

You change your mind.

          Then you major in Education. You want to really focus on becoming a teacher. You interned in the Pre-K room at your local elementary school back in the county you live in...well actually if you're reading this then you're doing that right now. Trust me, you love kids...but if you taught them you would probably hate them.

You change your mind.

...Again.

          So then you find your passion, which is Theatre. You fall in love instantly. After never really knowing what to love you find theatre. It comes at the best of times to you (it seems). It falls into your lap right when you get out of your poisonous relationship with your fiance and it fills every hole that you ever thought you had. You have your very first role and it's Mrs. Millenium in the musical Urinetown. The name is weird, I know, but it's the best experience you've ever had. You understudy for the lead in that show and you are given a brand new family to love and after accepting you into their world they love you too. Mrs. Millenium, along with the cop and the poor person you played on stage, had you on stage for every single act and never kept you on stage for an entire act because of all of your costume changes and this, Lindsey, THIS made you fall in love with theatre. The thrill of it all was something you felt like you had really been missing in your life. 

          The next starring role you get is Adelaide in the musical Guys and Dolls and it is amazing. It's the first starring role that the department gives you and you put everything you have into it. It's a growing experience. It's such a fun role and you meet one of your good friends now named Robbie who you play opposite of. You make such good friends and learn so much from this show and it simply presses the idea of a career of theatre deeper into your mind. It is at this point that you tell your family that you have changed your major and you plan on being an actress. The reactions are mixed but as much as they may not have agreed they support your endeavors. Your dad comes to every show and your mom sends flowers since she can't make it. 

          After Guys and Dolls you star in All My Sons, playing opposite of Robbie once again and even acting alongside one of your professors, Mr. Richard Breen and the very talented community member, Patsi Compton. That summer you play opposite of Robbie (shocker) in the Union Street Theatre production of Grease portraying Sandy Dumbrowski. When you return to school you play Kaa in the production of the Jungal Book (and you fall off of the set in this show). 

This all leads to the biggest role of your career...

Velma Kelly

          Averett does Chicago. You play Velma Kelly. It's the biggest role you've gotten so far and it's the one role you've dreamed of playing. She's the complete opposite of you but somewhere along the way you realize the two of you have a lot in common. You both have hidden resentment for one reason or another...and then you realize something Little Lindsey...

You have NO IDEA who YOU are.

          You threw yourself into theatre after being released from the prison of a horrible relationship and since then you had been becoming so many different people that you barely know who you are anymore. So, you made the very smart decision of changing majors for the final time to Communications and Journalism with the hopes to go into Public Relations. This is something that has always interested you and you know that and when you do switch it's hard. Believe me. You experience a lot of different emotions but at the end of the day it's the right decision and you feel that in your heart because you sleep so much easier than you used to. You remember yourself, which is the best feeling and the best reward that you could have asked for. 

          So, this is one of the things you have to know Lindsey. You have to do things for YOURSELF sometimes, no matter who it pisses off or who it pleases. At the end of the day you live with your decisions and the decision to switch your major to what it is now is one of the best decisions you will make for yourself and your future. It's hard but you are happier. You actually feel like you're in college and at the end of the day when you lay in bed, you know who YOU are...finally. 

-LNL