Let’s start with after high school, shall we? After all, that was arguably the first time I consciously exercised any type of free will! I graduated from South Tahoe High School in 2005 and, with literally no idea about what I should do with my life, I decided to pursue Chemical Engineering at the University of California, Berkeley… for no other reason that, well, I thought I was pretty good at chemistry, UCB's College of Chemistry had an incredible reputation, and they accepted me. So why not, right? 

Well, 3 semesters into the Chemical Engineering program, it became apparent that it wasn't for me. I was legitimately trying in all aspects; To keep up with my work load, to make new friends, to be interested in my classes, and to take advantage of the wealth of resources available to me at one of the most prestigious public universities in the nation, but... I was not succeeding. I barely had a social life, my health was declining, and I was even on A.P. (not “Advanced Placement” like in high school, but rather, “Academic Probation”) which meant a lot of my additional scholarships were cut off… and I was faced with the very real possibility of having to drop out of UCB.

So… what did I do? Well, I stopped worrying about what I thought I was supposed to do and tried instead to do what I wanted to do.

Performance was something that always interested me; I'd always liked to sing, dance, pretend, imagine, and create... and no, I didn't have any formal training in any of that, but… college wasn’t a bad time to start, eh? I decided I would switch to Theater and Performance Studies. It was something completely different from chemical engineering—In fact, many of the courses I'd already taken no longer counted for anything… But I had nothing to lose. I made the necessary appointments with my undergraduate advisors, filled out the necessary paperwork, neglected to tell my mom (until the deed was already done, anyway)... and since then, life has been amazing. Low-income, for sure, but amazing nonetheless.

For a while, I worked as the Production Stage Manager for Central Works Theatre in Berkeley--my first real-world theatre gig! I cannot thank them enough--They took a chance on a fresh-out-of-college SM like me, encouraged me to apply for and become a recipient of the Landisman Fellowship for emerging technicians, and basically allowed me to survive in the bay area long enough to get settled. These days, I stage manage only rarely, but am in a fortunate position of having to turn down gigs.

I also had an adequately long 7-year stint as a House Manager at two theaters right here in Berkeley-- The Marsh: A Breeding Ground for New Performance, and The Aurora Theatre: The Ultimate Intimate Theatre Experience. Thanks to that, I've been able to see lots of wonderful theatre here in the Bay Area, that I would otherwise have been unable to comfortably and/or willingly afford. 

Nowadays, I’m a company member of PlayGround SF, where I mostly act but have also started my playwriting career—in terms of entertainment. I’m also a member of Shotgun Players’ EDIB Committee and I’m very much a recent Shotgun fan, love their theater culture, and am excited to help be a part of it in any way. I also continue to work as the resident playwright / script developer for Berkeley Interactive Theater, a company that specializes in creating customizable EDIB training workshops for small groups/departments in academia using an interactive theater model. I would love for this model to be used by corporations, or even the general public, but… baby steps! I’m legit very excited about all the work I get to do!

To help me pay the bills in this lifestyle I’ve chosen, I also work at As You Wish Frozen Yogurt. I’ve been the manager there for about 6 years, and — as of this writing — I’m about ready to pass the torch onto somebody and just be a regular/backup employee. I suspect I won’t be able to keep up the “hustle” lifestyle going forever, but I’ve enough saved up to give it a good try; What if I could survive just doing acting, writing, and stage management? It seems unlikely, but now’s the time to try!

When I'm not working or doing theater, you can likely find playing video games, board games, LARPing my little heart out playing Amtgard as Endol, a tri-polar Paragon Bard who fights with sword, shield, and song! OR getting my cardio on while playing Jugger on Memorial Glade with Ursae Majoris--UC Berkeley's Jugger student organization. OR singing my heart out using the Smule Karaoke app. OR doing Zumba at the YMCA. OR still playing Pokemon Go. Really. (Team Instinct!)

Anyhow, as you can imagine, life gets pretty busy… and there’s a lot of surprises… (Did I mention I'm a former ileostomate? That deserves a shout-out as my first big life-threatening / life-altering medical experience)… and it’s honestly hard sometimes to keep doing the thing and not wonder, “Am I doing this all wrong?” But I wouldn't have it any other way. Because honestly, at the end of the day, I really do love my life. :-)

Now that you've read all that (thanks by the way! Go you!), please feel free to take a look around the rest of the site! A lot of work went into this!

Dec 14, 2024