Cabin Fever

Day 15- More and more cards
So Tuesday was another pretty boring day. It started off waking up late since I stayed up pretty late the night before. But when I did wake up I instantly went to cleaning my room. Crazy how dirty your room can get in such a short time. So I swept, mopped, and dusted my room from top to bottom, it took like a good chunk of time.

Which brought us to dinner (crazy how time flies when your trapped in your dorm.) For dinner we all headed down to the kitchen to play another 6 hours of cards. Over the course of time we made grilled cheese and played a ton of different card games. That of course was fun and we laughed a lot. Afterwards we booked our dorm dance studio for an hour and half and danced our butts off! It was great to practice our dance routines since there would be no dance classes for the weeks.
We practiced our theatre dance routine to "One" from Chorus Line and then we basically freestyles for the rest of the time. It was so much fun :)
After the dancing we all took showers and headed down to the kitchen again to play yet again more cards! The only bad part about playing cards was I lost EVERY single game of speed :( But it was all in good fun!
Afterwards a few friends and I realized we weren't tired and proceeded to a friends room to watch Cinderella, the version with Brandy and Whitney Houston! It was a great movie and I have a feeling we'll be watching it many more times.
Once Cinderella was done one friend and I headed to my room to watch a movie called Dirty which was about corrupt cops. (We watched the movie until 6 am).
That is when I went to bed, I was exhausted afterwards!
Day 16- Halloween
When I woke up on Wednesday I barley even remembered it was Halloween. It didn't cross my mind what so ever, but it crossed my friends minds. So after I woke up, late, again we headed to the Halloween store to get costumes for that night and our Halloween party this weekend. We made it to two different stores to find the perfect costumes. I chose to go as a female version of the mad hatter :) It was a really cute costume!

My other friends went as Mr. and Mrs. Krueger, Alice in Wonderland, Dorthy, and my other friend dressed up as Sexy...wearing his normal clothes. LOL!
Once our costumes were set we made a plan that we would all wear our costumes to time square that evening and see a movie, only some friends would see Sinister (OMG NOT GOING TO HAPPEN) and some would see another movie (like me)!
So the next couple hours we spent getting ready, doing our hair, our makeup, etc! Once we were all ready though, we looked awesome; especially, my friends who dressed up at the Kruegers.

We then made our way to Time Square. Some people took a taxi, I chose to walk with my friend there. It was actually not to bad of a walk, it was a little chilly in my costume though! Otherwise the walk was really nice. 

Once we made it to Time Square, we were supposed to meet up with two friends who were also seeing the non scary movie, but when we got there they told us they were opting on seeing the scary one. That was not going to happen with me, so my friend I walked with and I chose to buy tickets for Cloud Atlas.

The movie wasn't until 8:45, so we had time to kill. We proceeded to the Shake Shack for my first experience there. It was really tasty! :)

While the two of us were there our friend who didn't come with us texted us to see if we were still in Time Square. We told him yes and that we were seeing a movie in 45 minutes.

Needless to say our friend ran to Time Square (42nd street) from our dorm building (70th street). He made it though! So we proceeded to the movie.

The movie was great! I really enjoyed it, and it wasn't your typically movie. I would recommend it if you like movies with a deeper meaning, because that is defiantly what it was. My friends and I who saw it agreed it would take us a few days to really grasp the movie's concept.

We walked back to our dorm building and when we got here I went to get my mail. I got a package from my aunt and uncle! It was a really great thing to get! It was filled with lots of goodies :) I was thankful!

My friends came into my room and got pizza so we chilled for a while talking and eating! But then we all realized how tired we were, which meant bed time!

So here I sit! Tired, but I wanted to write about my past couple of days and let everyone know that the hurricane did not even touch us and that with my days off of school were still managing to make the best of it.

Thursday, AMDA is running a limited number of classes, which are determined by if the teacher can make it or not. I personally don't have any classes, but my friends do. 

I am making myself organize tomorrow because even though I cleaned my room Tuesday, when you have a tiny room it doesn't take much to make it a mess again.

OH AND I GOT A JOB AT THE SCHOOL! :) I'm not sure what it is, but I'm excited to see!

Well, it's bedtime for me! Lots to do even if there is no school!

LOVE,

R

Hurricane Sandy....

Day 14- Where's the hurricane?
What a day, what a day. It's Monday and there's no school. It's nice but the reason it's closed is because there is a crazy storm outside.
I didn't wake up early this morning, not by any means, because I was hoping to sleep through the hurricane, but that didn't happen.
After I woke up I did my laundry to get it out of the way... it took like an hour to do all of my laundry because the machines go really, really slow.
But once that was all taken care of, I took my clothing back to my room and organized my doors to accommodate for al of my clean clothes. It's sad that after only a week my doors have blown up, but now they are nice and neat. :)
My friends and I decided that we would go to the kitchen to make ramen noodles. When we got to the kitchen though, there were so many people trying to cook we decided to play cards in the meantime. (At this time it's about noon).
Finally we got access to the stove so we could make our delicious noodles. But we still continued to play cards.
We played all sorts of different games, everything from Crazy 8's, to B.S., to Spades, and etc. I couldn't even tell you all the names of the games I learned to play today.
It was a blast. It really helped the time go by and forget about what was happening outside.
Beside the like hour I left to take a shower, we played cards from 12-3 in the morning. So I really haven't had an exciting afternoon/evening/early morning. But playing cards was amazing!
I think this might have been one of the best days at AMDA so far, just because I got to spend it with my friends chilling and playing awesome games, laughing a lot, and making memories. I will defiantly never forget the time the hurricane hit NYC and we played cards all day long!
Well I pretty much just got in my room from playing cards. And now my friend is sleeping on the floor of my dorm because they don't want to go to the 10th floor during the hurricane with the winds. LOL!
Sleeping on a yoga mat must be really, really comfortable!
So tomorrow I'm going to get everything ready for school on Wednesday. I really can't believe we don't have class again tomorrow (it's not even really that bad here as far as weather) but oh well. Now we have to make up class on the weekends or whenever our teachers want us to. Oh joy!
Well it's time to head to bed! Ready for another boring day where we can't go outside!
LOVE,
R

My first weekend off...

What a weekend it has been.
Day 12- S.A.T.U.R.D.A.Y
When I woke up on Saturday, I was so happy I got to sleep in. But once I woke up I went with my friend down to the dorms outdoor patio. It was a great wake up call since it was beautiful outside. We then proceeded to my friends room where we slowly woke up by watching a couple of TV shows before starting our day.
We took it easy, talked about what our weekend plans were and about our classes.
My friends and I hung out for a while together, but then it was time for me to get ready for my interview. I was really nervous because the email I had gotten on the interview told me I basically had a minute to sell myself, due to the fact we had to cram all of the interviews on one day due to the hurricane coming.
After I was all ready we headed towards AMDA's second building, where my interview was, but we had some time to spare. We all decided to walk around and get something for lunch. This is when I experienced my first New York slice of pizza. It was in this little restaurant, hid on the street, and it was pretty yummy. The only downside was, I couldn't buy it with my check card because the purchase wasn't more than 10 dollars, so my friend payed for me.
(Everyone at AMDA is so extremely nice!)
We then sat down and ate our lunch before continuing to mosey down Amsterdam street some more. We walked past a lot of shops and restaurants, looking to see if there was anything close that we'd consider going to in the future. Through our walk we ended up at the Ansonia, where the interview was, but quickly we stopped in the North Face store that was right on the same corner. I saw some really cute jackets and it really made me sad that most likely I'll have another skiless winter :(
So then it was time to head to my interview. One of my friends came with me to sit with me. I tried to stay calm, because that was the most important thing.
The interview went really, really well, I thought. I hope I get a position! After my interview my friends and I went to get supplies for the hurricane that is headed this way.
I stocked up on bottled water, and dry foods like tuna, chips, cereal, etc. things I don't need my fridge for.
Everything was pretty much gone and all the stores we went to. There were also lines of people waiting to enter the store. I guess this is what got me to really realize that we are going to be hit by a hurricane.
I started getting nervous, but for the most part I tried to remain calm.
That night, my friends just chilled and we watched more episodes of Family Guy. Mostly everyone left though because it was pretty late.
The friend's room we were in was really tired which caused two friends and I to relocate to my room. This was like at 12ish.
We stayed up until maybe 3:30 talking about our futures and our pasts, what we were scared about and such. It was a lot of fun! But I was exhausted afterwards!
It was time to go to bed!!
Day 13- Unlucky Day 13...
So this morning when I woke up, I really, really wanted to stay in bed, but I knew I had to get up and begin my day. My friend and I woke up early to make our ways to the store to get breakfast foods (eggs  and cheese, mostly) so we could all have breakfast together. I was really excited to hang out with my friends. Only downfall was, for the most part, everyone was out of everything. Thank goodness we were still able to find eggs.
When we got back it was around 11. We rounded up the troops and made our way to the kitchen. There weren't too many people down there but slowly it got more crowded.
The eggs took forever to cook, so while we waited we watched the news. This is when things started to get serious. The news was preparing people for the storm and informing people in some areas to evacuate. I started to get really scared at this point.
A lot of people who were either from New York or New Jersey started heading home after we all got the news that AMDA would be closing Monday. My friends and I just tried to stay calm for the most part. But truthfully, the hurricane does scare me.
After breakfast I went to my room because I was practicing with my scene partner our acting scene. It went super well and was super easy and fast. The only thing was that everyone kept knocking on my room, it probably happened 3 times in the course of our half hour practice.
Why does it always seem like when you're busy people want to talk to you but when your board no one comes around?
Anyways, when practice was over I headed to a friends room to check up on everyone, but I didn't stay long, I was extremely tired.
So I headed back to my room to take a little nap before going to the floor meeting at 6. Needless to say, my nap was much needed.
The floor meeting was pretty boring, and totally self explanatory in four words..."Don't Do Dumb Things."
But there was free pizza, so it was totally worth it.
After the meeting I went to a friends room and watched the newest movie of FAME. How I love that movie!!!!!
But I didn't stay long because I wanted to talk to Zack! Which I did, but not for too long because I wanted to take a shower. :)
After my shower I made myself some tomato soup (first soup I've had since I got here!) and it was really tasty. Sadly all I had for cheese was string cheese, but I made it work!
Then Zack called me again and I got to talk to him, and some of my family; Chad, Amanda, and my little cousin Connor. It was great to hear from them!
But every since then, I've been chilling in my room, playing guitar...typing on my blog...just trying to relax.
The storm should be hitting tomorrow around 2 AM. I'm scared, but I truthfully have no clue what to expect. I hear a lot of mixed things. Some people say it's going to be terrible and the news say it's going to be horribly close to the worst storm we've seen, but then others say that it won't be really bad and we're over reacting. I'm not quite sure what to believe. But I'm pretty prepared. I have lots of dry foods and water. I also have lots of lights everywhere (thanks to my parents and brother!).
So I guess I'll just wait and see.
I'll blog again tomorrow since I don't have class.
Hope it will be a safe night!
LOVE,
R

What A Week...

So it's the end of week one, and I know I'm really behind on blogging, but I hope to catch you all up to speed! :)
Day 8- Cont.
So when I left off I was about to go to theatre dance class.
When I went to the third floor I found my friends warming up to Beyonce :) I quick threw on my dance leo, tights and shoes so I could join them!

When class started I immediately knew this was going to be one of my favorite classes this semester! Our teacher is really fun, he was in A Chorus Line on Broadway :) He also gave me a comment that I popped out of the crowd and he wanted to hire me because I stood out, which my red lipstick and smile. So that was automatically a plus. We learned a dance to A Chorus Line's theme song, although the dance was mainly about walking, it was still pretty difficult.

After class, my friends and I headed to the library where we made copies of music AND looked at librettos of some of our favorite shows. Of course, I headed straight for The Last Five Years. The libretto has notes in the script next to the lines, I would it so interesting to read, even thought I knew every lyric, it was amazing!

When our friend showed up, who was meeting us after his last class, we headed out of school and some of us went to TJMAXX to get yoga mats for our VPS class. We had a lot of fun walking around columbus circle and eating nasty McDonald's food. :/

Then we got back to the strat and hung out in a friends room, watching movies for practicum!

But we all headed to bed pretty early.

Day 9- Wednesday, the hump day

Wednesday was a long day, we had four classes back to back of one another.

Our first class of the day was VPS (voice production and speech) and boy does that class scare me. It's all about pronunciation, diction, and all that jazz!

It's the most important class, but it kind of scares me because it's so crucial. But I survived the class. We went over a lot of paperwork and such. Our teacher does not look like...a teacher, but he's pretty cool! I'm excited to get to know him better.

After VPS we all had to run to our jazz classes. OH MY GOSH! I love my Jazz class. I'm in jazz level 3 and I absolutely adore that class. It was so much fun! We danced to Lady GaGa and other awesome new songs with great beats. Our teacher is really, really cool too. I don't know, I just LOVE that class!

After an amazing jazz class, we all ran down to the first floor for musical theatre class. This is where we got to meet our actual music theatre teachers. They are amazing! I feel like I am really going to learn a lot from them. 

But anyways, class was all about doing our demo songs. I messed my words up. It was terrible, but I pulled through it. Needless to say, I felt terrible after that class. 

But I managed to put it aside me, or I tried to, when I got my first break of the day and sat to eat my very healthy lunch of combos!

But my lack of confidence carried into a somewhat boring acting class filled with this exercise "Enter, Breath, Exit." I didn't go that day, so I really just mellowed out. Thank goodness that was the last class of the day!

Before we left the building, I turned in my library internship application...I really hope I get the job!

Then we mellowed out again that night! But we did get to sleep in the next morning since we didn't have class until 1030.

Day 10- 0 to Hero

Thursday was an amazing day! First off my day started with musical theatre. What could be better? We did this activity where we just had to talk about something we new a lot about...I of course chose horses...what else would I do? They whole point of it was for the teachers to understand us better...but I didn't understand that completely.

We also learned a new song and started to learn how to analyze it. I found that part so interesting and before I knew it, I was running to the fourth floor for my first private voice lesson.

One word I have to say about my voice lesson...AMAZING! I really felt great about myself and my voice. My voice teacher is so nice! I think he was impressed with me. He told me my musical theatre teacher spoke very highly of me...:) that made me feel 100x better after my lyric mishap during class. He kept telling me how great training I had and that usually he has to retrain students, but not me. Thank you Bethany! :) We sang through some songs in my repertoire. But overall, the lesson was just amazing.

After my lesson I met up with my friends to catch another lunch break...more combos!

We chilled until we all had to change for Ballet. Yey...

But ballet really wasn't bad either. I was placed in level 3 ballet (same as jazz) and we had a fun class. Our teacher was really outgoing and energetic! She was really mellow for the first day.

The only intimidating part of our class was when we were standing in a line and all had to go one by one and do a pirouette on both sides, by ourselves....Yickes!

Mine actually weren't too bad, and she was impressed I had only been taking dance for 10 months! Thanks Jen :)

After ballet class I couldn't get out of AMDA fast enough, I was exhausted! But when I called my mom she reminded me that I had to turn in my other application...so I ran back to AMDA to turn it in! Thank goodness it was on time. I would have felt really bad if it would have been late!

On the way home we stopped by CVS and that's when we first heard about the hurricane hybrid that is headed right for NYC...oh how lovely?

But when we got back to the dorms, I really almost went to bed right away due to my 8 am class! :(

Day 11- Yoga...how I dislike thee...

So although today was Friday, I really didn't have a fun day for classes. Sight singing really stinks because it's at 8 am. Otherwise it's fine. I had to sight sing a phrase by myself today in front of the class. YICKES! I mean I did okay, but my skills need brushing up on. After sight singing, I mellowed out in the student lounge while I waited for my friends to get out of their class.

After we relaxed for a few moments, we headed to our next class VPS in which we had yoga. 

Yoga kicked my butt. It was intense, not horrible, but intense. I hope by the end of the semester I can do half those poses... 

After class we had a quick moment to grab a bite to eat...look how appetizing my lunch is!

YUM! After lunch was acting and today I had to do my enter, breath, exit. It went terrible (it wasn't like graded) it was just to unlock yourself more as a person. First off, my smile looked forced, I didn't make eye contact, I wasn't grounded, I looked down a lot, and my shoulders naturally round forward, thanks to riding :) Blah! But otherwise acting was another mellow class. We got our scene partners though, and I'm paired with a girl named Anna, whose really cool and nice!

After acting we had...MUSICAL THEATRE FILMS! That class is awesome. We have an awesome teacher and we watch clips from broadway shows to teach us about history of musical theatre, what could get better you ask? Nothing! Today we watched Newsies, Wicked, Dreamgirls, Baby, Avenue Q, Lion King and Hairspray. That was a ton of fun!

That was the last class for the day, and it's a great way to end the week! So my friends and I decided to celebrate...what better way then to head to Time Square and see a movie! Here are pictures from the trip!

The Disney store!

My Belle moment :)

On the movie theater balcony!

So after seeing Pitch Perfect again, I was in such an amazing mood. That movie makes you so happy, and I was in Time Square. I really think it hit me then that I was living in New York City, that the place actually existed and wasn't just a place in movies and on TV!
We made our way back to the dorms quickly after the movies, we were all super tired! (TGIF). BUT I had a nice visit from another friend right as I got back to my room. My friend came in, sprayed silly string, and left.  It reminded me of something my brother would do!
He of course came back to help clean it up, but it was pretty funny. I guess it's another reason I need to clean my room more throughly tomorrow. :/
Although it's nice that it's the weekend, I have lots to do!
I have an interview tomorrow for student worker positions, which I really want! I hope I get some kind of position, but there are a lot of people.
I also have to stock up on things before the big storm. I am kind of getting nervous, but I know everything will be alright.
So i am falling asleep!
I promise to update my blog more often!
Goodnight everyone!
LOVE,
R

It's only day two of classes and so much has happened!

Internet connection at my dorm is not the best thing... so the library is the only place I can actually type on my blog! Hopefully Zack will send me the mobile internet device so I can actually talk to everyone, instead of using my phone!
AMDA and New York in general are amazing! I've had such a great time these past few days.
The rest of orientation was pretty spectacular! I have made so many friends and have enjoyed every minute of being here!
Day 4- First Demonstration and Chris Jackson
First off Friday was fun! We woke up and had our first demonstrations, and surprisingly I wasn't nervous at all! It was actually really fun!
I sang my song and did my monolog in front of the artistic director and some other faculty members. They were all nice and everything went well. Only problem was, I didn't realize where my accompanist was starting, and I completely blanked when I was supposed to start BUT like a professional, I pulled myself together!
After demonstrations, we had some time to go to Capezio (the dance store) and get any items we needed for Saturdays dance placements. After Capezio's a couple friends and I went to the MAC store (makeup) to get makeup for our dance placements. I thought I wore a lot of makeup compared to many people at home, but compared to everyone here, I wear nothing! So I really needed some red lipstick and good foundation. Everyone in MAC looked at me like I was crazy because I didn't wear lipstick. So after a half hour of learning what shade I was, I checked out and headed back to the dorm before we went to get lunch.
After lunch we all got prepared to meet Chris Jackson! I was so excited! I mean it's Chris Jackson.
Chris Jackson is not only an AMDA alumni, he played Simba in the Lion King on broadway and was Benny in the original cast of In The Heights!
Meeting him was amazing! He gave us a lot of insight as to what it was like, not only at AMDA, but for when we got into the real world and started auditioning.
We were all sad when he finished talking because he was a great speaker. BUT I somehow got in the line to meet him in person. SO I talked to him. I asked for his autograph, which I got, and a picture!

I talked to him about how it was like for his transition from a small town to a big city and he was really helpful, and really nice!

When my friends and I left, we headed to the Strat where my friend made us dinner and we talked to our group leaders about the dance placement we would be having the next morning.

Day 5- Dance until your feet fall off

Saturday was all about dance. So when I woke up at 6 in the morning, I put on my dance leotard and my tights and headed to my group leaders room where she did my hair...thank goodness, there was no way I could have done that myself. 

My friends and I headed towards 61st street where we warmed up and got out numbers, mine was 155...it must have been lucky.

First was the Ballet placement. The combination wasn't hard, it was really basic, but they were looking for technique. We had to perform that combo a couple of times for the dance faculty, and they moved us around into different groups. One group got to leave, my group had to stay to learn another combination. This one was a little more difficult, but not bad. After ballet, I found out I was placed in level 3 of 4...which was really good considering I have only been dancing for 10 months. 

After ballet we had tap...OH GOODNESS. It was the first time I had ever had tap shoes on...it was terrible! 

I learned the combo, but unlike ballet, we had to perform it one by one, by ourselves, in front of the teachers. I tried really hard. But, I ultimately was not as good as anyone else there. Somehow I ended up pulling out a level 2 in that class!

THEN it was jazz, which I was so excited about! The jazz combo was so much fun, and I killed it! I had a ball with it! I couldn't have been happier when I was placed in jazz 3!

After it was done, my friends and I stole a quick picture! I'm surprised we weren't all falling asleep (the dance placement took 6 hours...)

After the crazy dance placement, a friend and I walked to the grocery store to get salad bar...YUM! We brought that back to the dorm and chilled in another friends room where we watched some TV shows and just relaxed before the dance that night.

Then it was time to get ready for the dance...although I didn't really dance I had fun just being with my new friends!

The dance ended early which is why we ended up going back to a friends room to watch more TV. Also, we didn't have to be to the Ansonia until 12, so we could stay up.

We had fun talking and everything, before we all headed to bed.

Day 6- What's Going to Happen to Me

That next day we had a meeting at the Ansonia, but first all of my friends decided to meet at starbucks for breakfast! Which was fun, here's a picture of my friends being talented and styling with one hand!

At the Ansonia, we heard an AMDA alumni talk about what was going to happen here at AMDA and when we leave here. It was really, really inspirational. I couldn't wait to get my schedule after it though! 

The speech made me really optimistic about what my time at AMDA was going to be like, and I couldn't wait to start classes the next day! 

But anyways, after the speech we walked to 61st street where we learned about Practicum (logging my hours of rehearsal and outside work) and ultimately our schedules! 

When we got out schedules, I learned I was also placed in one of the highest levels of sight singing, which I was really happy about, because I love sight singing!

The only downside to everything that day was the fact that our whole group from orientations was staying together, except for one of my friends :( we were all really sad about him leaving the group, but we knew that we'd always still hang out with him.

We headed back to the dorms where we got a bite to eat and chilled in a friend's room and watched more TV (guess that's what we do in our free time. :) 

That night, our whole orientation group got together and ate Chinese takeout, which was tasteful, before we all slowly left and went to bed, that next day was our first day of classes and we needed to make sure we were all ready!

Day 7- (Day 1 of classes)

Yesterday was the first day of classes, and I loved every minute of it.

Our first class was at 9 am, and it wasn't too early. It was our Musical Theater class, but we had a sub because our teacher was out of the country and having troubles getting back in time. Our sub was nice though. We talked a lot about the expectations of the class and what we would accomplish in that class through the next four semesters. I am so excited for that class! It's probably going to be one of my favorites! The class lasted around 2 hours and afterwards my friends and I ate before our next class acting.

This is me chilling in the student lounge, practicing my monolog!

After a little while we decided to head up to acting and be early. 

Our acting class was really fun as well! We didn't do much acting, but like Musical Theater, we learned about the class and what it was all going to pertain.

After acting, we had ten minutes to get to our Tap classes. (I was not excited for that class). But surprisingly, I caught on pretty fast and it was fun! I am also proud to say I can now accomplish a single time step :)

After Tap, we as a group, walked back to the strat. I needed to do laundry (I know, I haven't even been here a week and I had enough for two loads of laundry...whoops). So I stopped at Wells Fargo to get some quarters. YEY!

My friend helped me with my laundry, because the machines were really hard to figure out. But while my laundry was going I was practicing tap, I can now do a double time step! I'm on my way :) And I can write that down in practicum. Which is amazing!

Then I warmed up some leftovers and watched True Blood with my friends, but I left the room early because I was so exhausted and the next day I had a 8 am class :/

But I was so excited to talk to my boyfriend Zack...it's been really difficult to have time to talk to him because life here moves so quickly. I miss him a lot and can't wait for him to visit, which I hope he can do soon!

I think he'd love it here!!! But after we were done talking, I could barley keep my eyes open! SO I went straight to bed!

Day 8- Today/Sight-Singing

So as I'm writing this, I am sitting in the AMDA library chilling after my sight-singing class which was at 8 am this morning, but it only went till 9, so it wasn't bad! We just learned really basic stuff.

I am relaxing and putting off changing for theater dance, which I have next! But I love it here, so I can't wait to see what that brings me.

I am super excited to be here, and everyone is super nice! Well I really should go change into my leotard...sadly.

I will try to get some internet connection tonight to tell you all about my next class.  

LOVE,

R

My First Days at Amda....

Well, I'm sorry I haven't written much, but I'm learning first hand how "fast pace" this city really is.
From the minute I got off the airplane, to now, I have truly have not stopped.
I apologize for this blog post to be long, but I have three days of NYC jammed packed craziness to write about.
But before I get to that I just want to say I love AMDA!
Day 1- Exploring the City
Okay so Tuesday when I landed from the plane, we headed straight to our hotel. On this shuffle ride we learned that pumpkins go for like twenty dollars! To think, back home, we can go through a field and get one for free! If musical theater fails, I'll go into the pumpkin business :)
After getting to the hotel, we headed to the Upper West Side to see my school. We just walked to my dorm, the strat...

After walking by the strat we headed over to the AMDA main building. It's currently under construction, but what isn't in New York!

After we walked there, we went to a little place to eat a block away. It was really nice, and I found out a lot of AMDA students eat there :)

After we went to AMDA we headed toward the subway to go over to the Upper East Side to get to the Metropolitan Museum. :)

We took a subway along Central Park and walked along the Jackie O Reservoir.

This led us right next to the Met :) I needed to stop here to get my gossip girl moment! They always eat lunch on the Met steps or catch a bite to eat before the day began!

After I had my moment, :), we headed inside the Met to look around the store. There was so much stuff in that store and it was crowded. There were people speaking in so many different languages. How cool? After he looked through the shop, we realized the museum was closing, but we could get in to see a few pieces before it shut down. I snuck a peek at so many amazing pieces, mostly from Greece. But my favorite was this...

After the Met, we continued on 5th Avenue and got to see some amazing shops, I really wanted to stop, but I needed to get home.

Then we continued to the subway, and stubbled upon this beauty...

Then we caught the subway and headed back to the hotel. Before I knew it, I was fast asleep, nervous about the next day....
Day 2- Move in Day
I woke up that morning, got ready, put the last things in the suitcases and headed down to the lobby to get an SUV taxi...after 10-15 minutes (and my crying episode because I missed Zack so much) our transportation was here...but it wasn't a taxi...but a limo.

It was very weird showing up in a limo, I think it might be the first time I have been in a limo. Anyways, on the way to AMDA I saw a lot of cool things, such as the Empire State building.

I also was just jamming in the limo going down the street when we passed The Russian Tea Room...OMG GOSSIP GIRL!

But then we arrived at AMDA! When I got there I was created by AMDA students and they helped me  bring my stuff up to my room. I am on the fifth floor, right across from the elevators, which causes me to have a loft bed. I will post pictures later, because my parents have been spending a lot of time getting it ready, BUT my room is tiny...smaller than my room back home, which is nuts!

After I unpacked, I was going to head over to the main campus to partake in registration. BUT my key would not lock my room. I'm pretty sure I spent an hour trying to get it to work. Finally, after many, many tries, the maintenance man said he would fix it for me. 

So we took off to 61st street! On our way there, oh you know, I just happened to pass the Empire Hotel in which Chuck owns in Gossip Girl, it was a total moment. I freaked out!

When we got there and went to the third floor and I was smacked in the face with how much energy was in the building. 

We went into a studio where we received our orientation packets and went to different stations (financial aid, admissions, etc.) to make sure you had all of your forms filled out...which I did :) After that we could go into another studio to get our picture for our ID taken, buy our books and whatever supplies we needed.

I got everything I needed, plus somethings for my mom and Zack to sport around AMDA gear at home. After that, I headed to the student worker table, and I found out a lot, I am so excited, and I really hope I can get a job at the school. Personally, the library intern sounds like a great position. Although it's not paid, I get free copies (hello, BONUS!) and I get a leg up for when they hire library positions for 2,3, and 4 semester students. But there are lots of other wonderful jobs!

Then my parents and I headed to Best Buy and Bed, Bath, & Beyond to get supplies for my dorm. I got A LOT! But thank goodness we were able to get it delivered to my dorm! 

After that, we headed back to the dorm and chilled until we had our Welcome meetings.

Mine was at 73rd street at AMDA's second building and my parent's was at 61st street. I was so excited to be there. I got there early, and chilled with some other students and listened to current students give us advice until the session started. When it did, we had roll call done. I am automatically pin pointed as the "really excited one" because when they said our names we were supposed to say "here." I said "I'm right here!" I mean I'm not mad I'm labeled that because I am super excited!

After we talked with an admissions councilor about a few things, we then heard from the stage manager, Liz, about the details of our final demonstrations. She was so funny, and an AMDA graduate! The only thing was my head was pounding, it was 9 o'clock, and I just wanted to sleep. 

After that, we went into a room where we practiced our songs with our accompanists and took a theory test. I am sorta mad at myself because I didn't do my best at the test because I had that pounding headache. Sigh. I guess it wasn't graded, just a placement, and if I get placed in a lower level I can get really good grades :) I'll be happy with anything.

My song went really well with the accompanist. I was the last one to go, and everyone was silent during my song, not for anyone else. It was crazy, I didn't sound my best because I wasn't feeling well, but it was good. I think my accompanist was so surprised by my preparation because I had a cut copy made for this. Everyone else just had the sheet music. Thank you Bethany!

After we were dismissed I was so thankful, I ran out of there to meet my parents and head back to the hotel... (I had no bedding to sleep in my bed that night :O)

When we got back to Queens, which is like a 40 minute subway ride, I took and a shower and headed straight to bed, I did not feel well and today was an early morning.

Day 3- Meetings and Central Park

The day before, my group leaders stressed how important being early was. I was in Queens and needed to get to Broadway and 70th street by 745. So I left the hotel at 630. I did not want a rap to be late. So I arrived at 745, but got to chat with my Zack when I got off of the subway and walked to Starbucks to meet my group.

It was really nice to talk to him, I miss him so much and wish he was here with me to experience all of this! I keep telling myself I'll see him soon.

When we met up, it was nice we started talking, waiting for our group leaders...who ended up being 5 minutes late. We all laughed about that. But then we continued to walk to the church where we received an official welcome from the artistic director of AMDA. It was really inspirational.

In between talks form different people, I had a chance to chat with more members of my group. They are all really cool! I'm happy I am making friends here. I'm happy people like me. It such a change from high school. People get me here and are like me, like to randomly sing and dance! It's great.

After we left the church we headed to the main AMDA building. When we got to the fourth floor studio, we all sat down, when Eddie, my group leader, started playing "Someone Like You" on piano and of course we all started singing, and it was awesome. So many great voices all singing together, making harmonies and such. After someone like you, we sang Price Tag. Which was SAWEET! I had a convo with someone from my group about Pitch Perfect during this song and how much we both LOVED it! :) Then we sang If I Ain't Got You! LOVE LOVE LOVE!!!

But then it was time to start our meeting. We got intros from all of the faculty, like admission staff, and such, not the teachers yet. After they talked to us, we got the LONG security talk. I'm pretty sure everyone in the room was either day dreaming, sleeping, or playing on their iPhones. I really tired to listen, but I found my mind start to wonder as well.

Then our group snatched free food from the refreshments that were set out for the dance orientation students today...shhhh....no one will ever know! Our group leaders ate with us and gave us a lot of helpful hints, like DO YOUR RESEARCH on the songs and scenes you are given. Also they gave us tips to survive and such. 

Our library meeting was next...the library is amazing. It's jammed packed with scores, scripts, DVD's and CD's. It's CRAZY! I can't wait to use all of my resources, not only there but at the performing arts library down the street.

Hmmm....after that I headed back to my room where I got to see my friend Devin!!! It was so nice to see him again :) We hung in my hallway, because my parents were in my room setting up. I made some friends on the fifth floor, with Devin. He also gave me a tour of the downstairs kitchen and living area. It's really nice, I just think I'll stick to my George Forman :)

But then it was time for the IT session...which didn't help me AT ALL! But oh well. I'll figure it out! 

Our group decided we were going to stroll around Central Park together and get to know each other better. It was really cool!

The John Lennon memorial...

The river where you can rent boats...so romantic :)

 Such a beautiful bridge!

The famous Central Park fountain...that was being cleaned today :(

Where they just filmed Gossip Girl...OMG!

This was the view from where we were sitting in Central Park. It was so weird to look behind me and see this...I can't believe I'm here. :)

After Central Park I went to my room and discovered my parents were pretty much done with the place. It looks amazing. I don't know what I would have done without them. So I decided since I had a late morning tomorrow, I'd come to the hotel with my parents. It's my last night with them.

SO here I am, in Queens waiting for Zack to Skype me. :(

But there you have it...my first days at AMDA in a nutshell.

I love it here, the people are amazing, and everyone is so nice. My group is great and friendly. Tomorrow we have first demonstrations...I'm nervous BUT I can't wait to get it over with. Afterwards we get to meet Chris Jackson. He's an AMDA alum who was Simba in Lion King, performed as Benny in In The Heights and much more!

I cannot wait! 

Let's get the day started!!!!

LOVE,

R