I grew up in Utah and Arizona and was your typical science and math dork with no social skills. After high school I joined the U.S. Navy as an electronics technician. I enjoyed learning about electronics, but didn’t love the job. I didn’t feel like I was making any impact on the world. After my 6 years in the Navy, I decided to go back to school to become…
A doctor. Well, that didn’t work out. I started my college career at the University of Utah as a biology major on a pre-med track. During my second semester, I took a non-major acting class for something “easy” and to knock out a general credit, take a fun class and relax a little.
Whoops! Turns out it was NOT easy. It WAS a whole lot of fun, though. Part of the requirement was to see and review 3 plays from a list of 15. After the first one, I was hooked and went to every show on the list.
At the end of the semester, I talked with the head of the acting program and asked her if I could audition. I figured there was no chance I’d make it.
My audition went about as well as one could expect. I was shaking, sweating, nervous, and as expressive as a cardboard box. Luckily, the professor had invited me to play theatre games with the class as part of the audition. She asked me why I wanted to join the acting program. My answer: I realized that school could teach you a lot about science, math, and reading, but there are things about life you can’t learn from a book. Seeing plays made me realize theatre can teach you how to live life and be a better person. I craved that and wanted to share it with others!
I guess she liked my answer and how I interacted with the class. To the chagrin of my mother and my favorite biology professor, I joined the Actor Training Program. Four years in the program taught me a lot about myself. It improved my confidence, I learned to live with energy and passion, and (debatably) even gained some social skills.
While finishing my BFA in acting I was volunteering at a children’s hospital and learned about MCT from Joe (Martinez). He suggested I check out the Tour. Long story short, that summer I hit the road in a Little Red Truck teaching Cinderella on the east coast.
MCT is the only job I’ve ever had where I was excited about going to work every day. After my first year, I had to do “one more contract” to experience Fly Tour. Then “one more” to go to Canada. Then “one more”, and before you know it, I was working in the home office. I loved every minute of my time with MCT.
When Covid hit, the Tour all but shut down. I had time off I didn’t want to waste, so I started an online master’s degree in elementary education. After getting the degree, I moved on to the classroom and taught for two years in New Mexico. After that, I took a job working for the DoDEA (Department of Defense Education Activity) in Misawa, Japan, where I currently teach 2nd grade.
I love being in Japan – it’s awesome! Everyone is polite, the food is really good, and there is a ton of adventure to be had. Still, not a day goes by where I don’t feel that familiar pang for the road and longing for the Tour life.