Slowly we are approaching the end of the semester, which for me, and the other four OYP students, means the end of a six- and half-month journey. I cannot even begin to process everything that being at the ADA has given me, but I know that I have almost filled two 180 sheet journals: one with notes on theatre, the other with notes on life. I am endlessly grateful for this place. My muscles have grown, my skills, my mind, my soul, my patience, my capacity for love of others and myself…

I’m going to miss the view from the Sala Danza windows that makes you feel like you dance with the trees. I will miss actually dancing with the trees that have received probably a multitude of hugs over the years. I will miss sitting on the train and over time as my Italian improved, being able to eavesdrop on strangers’ conversations. I will miss the rich fruit and strong wine. I will miss sweating and laughing and crying and jumping and squatting and talking and screaming and meditating on top, around, and inside the Teatrino. If I don’t stop typing now, I never will. 

While I was at the ADA, everyone from teachers to students to staff taught me to walk, and although I’m still wobbling and sometimes falling hard, I know soon I’ll run, because on these hills you are set up for life. 

Abril – Coastal Carolina University