The Benefits of Taking Chances.

"The only way you can know, is give it all you have." -- 'I Lived' One Republic.

Hello, there!

I'd like to think that I'm a professional when it comes to auditions. The truth is, I've only been to about 4 of them in my life, and the anticipation of the process makes me want to chicken-out every time. 

Recently, about 2-weeks-ago-recently, I tried out for my first high school musical theatre audition. This meant that I had to bring myself to the tech doors, sign my name on a piece of paper and mentally tell myself, "You're stepping out of your comfort zone, Bailey! You're doing great!" To be completely honest, I think that the scariest part about the audition process is actually just pushing yourself to sign up in the beginning. 

The auditions were later that week after school. I had prepared my song that I was going to perform. In my head, I was going to sing flawlessly, in front of one judge, and dance like I had years worth of training. The truth was far from it, but it was too late to back down.

We ended up taking head shots, and I remember smiling as big as I could. Looking back on it now though, I'm sure I looked like a frazzled wreak. Before I could even say, "Broadway bound!" our director called in our group of students. In this group included a girl who I heard practicing with perfect pitch and buckets of oozing confidence. I was jealous to say the least.

This is our actual high school theatre. Pretty cool, huh?

We soon arrived in the theatre. I had no idea before hand that the auditions were in front of a group. This surprised me and made me panic for a small moment until I realized that it was only about 10 people. The first performer was a showstopper. She sang "Pretty Funny," from the musical Dogfight. Other performers went included several who sang songs from Ariel, Wicked, Les Miserables, and Marina and the Diamonds.

Halfway through, I decided to perform. I walked over to the pianist and showed him my several pages of piano notes. "I don't know how to play this. This isn't a familiar song to me." He frowned. "You're going to get, what you get." 

"THANKS FOR THE ENCOURAGEMENT!" I yelled at him in my head.

And so I was off... off beat and off tune. My confidence was switched to off and I kept biting my lip and looking uncertainly at the directors. "Crap, Crap, CRAP." I remember thinking as I thanked the directors and sat back down. I'm not sure who's fault exactly it was that my piece was off, but I'm  taking responsibility of my own mistakes.

The auditions continued with a small reading and a surprisingly difficult dance step. I knew that even if I didn't have the best singing audition, I did have the power to control how the rest of my audition went. I smiled and tried to project my voice so the directors knew I had the confidence. 

The weekend past quickly and soon enough the results were out. 

I came out of my 8th period class, Tech Theatre, and was halfway to the doors where the results were hung, and I heard several of voices yelling, "BAILEY YOU GOT IN! CONGRATS!" 

Long story short, I ended up screaming and jumping up and down with excitement. 

My part is "Little Ti Moune", and I'm so happy I choose to step out of my comfort zone and took a chance.

As Kara Lindsay would sing in "Watch What Happens, " (Also my audition song...),

"But all I know is nothing happens if you just give in.
It can't be any worse than how it's been.
And it just so happens that we just might win,
so whatever happens! Let's begin!"

The Start of a New Year.

Hello, readers!

This post has been a long time in the making. Over the years, as you may have discovered, I have slowly made my way to a more organized, composed blog.

My blogging experience first started with the, "Oh, I think I can write," stage of my life.

It didn't end very well. The whole page came out as overly pink yet age appropriate for my then, 12-year-old self.

A few years later, I went on to my, "Okay, that was embarrassing! Let's try this again!" stage.

This blog, in my opinion, came out much better!  It was still very disorganized, and I often wrote every 2 months. On top of that, nothing came in any particular order. 

As you can now see and laugh at, my dreams of owning a site that was updated consistently, yet kept simple, never worked out. 

This is my 3rd try at a online journal and I hope it will be my best yet.

Let me first start by saying, "Hello there!" 

"Well, hello there author."

Right. I forgot to formally introduce myself. This is yet, another mistake that I've made in the past. I often expect you to know who I am. 

Let me start again.

Hello! My name is Bailey. I am 15 years old and a 9th grader at a high school somewhere in the middle of Nebraska. 

I often forget that I still have about 3 years of high school left, and I can't simply move to Ireland and raise sheep. 

I really enjoy music, and have strange obsessions with certain artists. The obsession often lasts no longer then a year, and results in me asking myself, "Why can't you go back to only listening to the soundtrack of Harry Potter?"

I am an avid (if that even makes sense for this event), debater. I participate in PF/LD depending on the situation. I pride myself in knowing that I am a good arguer. Well, kind of. The downside to being a debater is sometimes, I argue myself into places I am unaware of how to get out of.

Person A: "Why don't you think you should clean the bathroom?"

Myself: "It's already clean, and I'm too tired from the debate tournament yesterday to do anything."

"You haven't cleaned it in 2 weeks."

"Oh." Pause for dramatic walking. "Gross. Is that algea?"

"...And you were saying?"

That conversation admittedly was very exaggerated. Thankfully, we've never actually had algae grown anywhere in our bathrooms.

Going back to my introduction, I also enjoy singing, dancing, and having impromptu dance parties with myself. 

I have traveled throughout the world due to my Dad's job. My favorite places include Melbourne, Australia; Dublin, Ireland; and Hong Kong.

My life is simple, but has spectacular surprises. 

"That was better, Bailey. Nice to meet you."

Going into this year, I have comprised a list for myself. I'm not a big fan of 'New Year's resolutions' because they never get done so therefor, I'm happier with the phrase, 'New Year's goals'.

This year, I have promised myself I will: 

1. Think with more positivity.

2. Be a kinder person.

3. Will myself to think outside of the box and take steps outside of my comfort zone.

Yes. This 2015 may be my most daring year yet. 2015 will be full of new experiences and new goals.

I'm excited. 

I'm brave. 

I'm ready.

Bring it on, 2015.

-- Bailey.