Success is something that I always strive for. Sure, I care about my friends and family, and of course I’m grateful and thankful for the things that I have, But honestly, I don’t feel like that’s enough. I want to be successful. There are many definitions of success out there but I believe that success is truly doing what you love and always wanted to do, living the dreams you always wanted to live, and to be happy. I’m not truly happy. This is because I’m not making a wonderful living doing what I’ve loved doing for so long. But I’m young. I’m not even eighteen yet. But when I am, I plan to go out and do some auditions. I can’t audition all the time though, I do need some time to live.
I believe that I can make it. I have learned too much, and I have done too much to fail. Failure is not an option when it comes to what I dream about. I don’t need to take an SAT and go to college to be successful. All I need is my God given talent, and to believe in myself. With these two things, I can jump over any hurdle, break any wall, and go the distance. Because I believe I can.
You know what’s great about my director friend? When He’s feeling unmotivated, he prints sayings and hangs them up in his bedroom to keep his mind in focus. I remember reading one of his posters It said, “Light em’ up! Show em’!” And I just thought “Wow…” Because when I read that I felt it speaking to my heart. It made me more ready and focused to do what I love. it made me want to become successful.
Where I came from also wanted me to become what I am at heart. I was born in Camden, NJ. This city is known for it’s terrible reputation with drugs, violence, and gangs. My mother and father knew it wasn’t good for my sister and I to be living in an area that isn’t safe. They moved away from that place. To this day I come back over there to visit family, and I still don’t like what I see. I know I don’t want my kids growing up in a place like that.
All of these things and more help me to realize that I want to be successful in my future. I just wonder. What is your definition of success?
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Monday, September 13, 2010
Julian Class 9/13/10
English III Performing Arts
Reading may look easy, but it isn’t really that easy at all. We start to really learn to read as a child, but since there is so much more to learn, different styles of reading, newer, more complex words to know that will help your vocabulary grow. It’s going to take a while to complete, maybe when you graduate high school, maybe when you graduate college. That’s what makes reading not really that easy at all. The process of reading is very time consuming, and you struggle with it throughout your whole life. Where am I in this long process of reading? I’m guessing that I’m in the middle somewhere. I’m in the stage where I ditch the Dr. Seuss books, but I don’t quite have the kind of focus and knowledge to read an adult book on how to make millions of dollars in a terrible economy. If I could read, or wrote a kind of book like that, then that would’ve made me a well known genius. But I don’t know how, nor do I care how. I just want to fallow my dreams. Even though, I still don’t feel ready to be a big time reader, I still have come a long way from trying to practice my name.
Now, my reading journey first began in that magical little classroom called Kindergarten. I remember kindergarten. It was a pretty fun time when we were never treated unfairly. Everyone was a friend during kindergarten. Even a girl or two, even though back then they were considered yucky. I remember our kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Roads I think her name was. It sounded like “Mrs. Rose” to me. She was very nice, she would let us play around in our classroom, and we would hear stories as she would read them aloud to us. She used to read us a “learn how to read” book from Dr. Seuss, who’s actual name is Theodore Geisel. Back then, I used to think that Dr. Seuss was the name of the cat in the hat. I was able to read my first name that time. All of us were able to read our first names back then. This allowed us to pick our Popsicle sticks and insert them in the colored milk box that we wanted. I used to take one girl’s stick and put it in another milk box, and then I would blame it on someone else, ha ha.
My reading journey continued in the hellhole I would call, Elementary school. Though, I wouldn’t really consider it a hellhole, the kids who made fun of me back then were just immature and insecure. They needed something to make fun of. I guess that person was me. Thank goodness my sister was there to help defend poor me, until she graduated from the fifth grade. During that time, I was still stuck in second. I actually met my first crush and my best friend during this time. My second grade teacher, Mrs. Kirschner used to give us books to read. I remember one of those books being magic tree house. Magic tree house books are very good books. They help fuel the imagination. I remember one book being about the siblings who got into that magical tree house, and they ended up in the Wild West. These magic tree house books interest me to this day.
After Elementary school, I finally went to a place where I felt accepted. This place was Middle School. There was a great teacher that I knew there, and he was my English teacher in both 6th grade and in 8th grade. His name was Eric Newman. He still teaches in my middle school, he just doesn’t teach me anymore. I still wish he did. He was a great teacher. I remember reading poems during that time. I fell in love with poetry. People read my poems, and they loved my poems. Even though I found my natural writing talent that time, I still believed that I was here to fallow my true dream, and act. Since Mr. Newman was Jewish, he believed that his students should know about the events that happened during The Holocaust. We read the diary of Anne Frank, We watched a television show about a death camp that has been shut down because the prisoners escaped, and we saw pictures of some exhibits in the Holocaust Museum. This includes the shoe exhibit. This exhibit showed all of the pairs of shoes of the people who died during that time. It was a huge pile. It was a huge pile of shoes.
Now I arrive where I currently stand today. I’m finally in High School. Last year, sophomore year, I focused on this book called “A Perfect Snow”. I didn’t realize that my English teacher, Mr. Williams was handing out the books until a friend of mine told me. I was waiting for a day where he would just give them out at seminar. Whenever I look back to those middle school and elementary school days, I realize how much I have grown, and how these people shaped and build me to what I am today. I finally feel accepted. More accepted then I used to. Now I don’t even feel like I have to fit in. I finally feel like I can actually be myself, and not fall into peer pressure. I feel like I can stand out. I have friends.
This year is currently my Junior year in high school, and I felt that I have grown since my freshman year. I feel more mature then I used to be. This year, I’m really starting to focus in the field of acting. The one thing that I loved since elementary school. I still don’t read much, but when it comes to acting, I’ll read almost anything, even Shakespeare. this year Performing Arts will be doing a show called “A midsummer night’s dream” this is one of Shakespeare’s more famous plays. It’s going to be held in our new black box theatre that’s going to open up sometime in the fall. It really makes me exited. Never have I been so exited for Shakespeare's work but now. It’s a major first for me.
Throughout the lifetime I’ve spent in school, I’ve never been a big reader. Truth is I’ll probably never be a big reader. Sure, I like a good book, but I would just prefer the movie instead. I don’t enjoy having to imagine what the characters look like; I also don’t like to have to think about the setting and their relationships. I want to see the characters, I want to see the setting, and I want to see the conflicts. I’m a movie kind of guy. I can’t help it. I feel that I can just enjoy a movie more than a book.
English III Performing Arts
Reading may look easy, but it isn’t really that easy at all. We start to really learn to read as a child, but since there is so much more to learn, different styles of reading, newer, more complex words to know that will help your vocabulary grow. It’s going to take a while to complete, maybe when you graduate high school, maybe when you graduate college. That’s what makes reading not really that easy at all. The process of reading is very time consuming, and you struggle with it throughout your whole life. Where am I in this long process of reading? I’m guessing that I’m in the middle somewhere. I’m in the stage where I ditch the Dr. Seuss books, but I don’t quite have the kind of focus and knowledge to read an adult book on how to make millions of dollars in a terrible economy. If I could read, or wrote a kind of book like that, then that would’ve made me a well known genius. But I don’t know how, nor do I care how. I just want to fallow my dreams. Even though, I still don’t feel ready to be a big time reader, I still have come a long way from trying to practice my name.
Now, my reading journey first began in that magical little classroom called Kindergarten. I remember kindergarten. It was a pretty fun time when we were never treated unfairly. Everyone was a friend during kindergarten. Even a girl or two, even though back then they were considered yucky. I remember our kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Roads I think her name was. It sounded like “Mrs. Rose” to me. She was very nice, she would let us play around in our classroom, and we would hear stories as she would read them aloud to us. She used to read us a “learn how to read” book from Dr. Seuss, who’s actual name is Theodore Geisel. Back then, I used to think that Dr. Seuss was the name of the cat in the hat. I was able to read my first name that time. All of us were able to read our first names back then. This allowed us to pick our Popsicle sticks and insert them in the colored milk box that we wanted. I used to take one girl’s stick and put it in another milk box, and then I would blame it on someone else, ha ha.
My reading journey continued in the hellhole I would call, Elementary school. Though, I wouldn’t really consider it a hellhole, the kids who made fun of me back then were just immature and insecure. They needed something to make fun of. I guess that person was me. Thank goodness my sister was there to help defend poor me, until she graduated from the fifth grade. During that time, I was still stuck in second. I actually met my first crush and my best friend during this time. My second grade teacher, Mrs. Kirschner used to give us books to read. I remember one of those books being magic tree house. Magic tree house books are very good books. They help fuel the imagination. I remember one book being about the siblings who got into that magical tree house, and they ended up in the Wild West. These magic tree house books interest me to this day.
After Elementary school, I finally went to a place where I felt accepted. This place was Middle School. There was a great teacher that I knew there, and he was my English teacher in both 6th grade and in 8th grade. His name was Eric Newman. He still teaches in my middle school, he just doesn’t teach me anymore. I still wish he did. He was a great teacher. I remember reading poems during that time. I fell in love with poetry. People read my poems, and they loved my poems. Even though I found my natural writing talent that time, I still believed that I was here to fallow my true dream, and act. Since Mr. Newman was Jewish, he believed that his students should know about the events that happened during The Holocaust. We read the diary of Anne Frank, We watched a television show about a death camp that has been shut down because the prisoners escaped, and we saw pictures of some exhibits in the Holocaust Museum. This includes the shoe exhibit. This exhibit showed all of the pairs of shoes of the people who died during that time. It was a huge pile. It was a huge pile of shoes.
Now I arrive where I currently stand today. I’m finally in High School. Last year, sophomore year, I focused on this book called “A Perfect Snow”. I didn’t realize that my English teacher, Mr. Williams was handing out the books until a friend of mine told me. I was waiting for a day where he would just give them out at seminar. Whenever I look back to those middle school and elementary school days, I realize how much I have grown, and how these people shaped and build me to what I am today. I finally feel accepted. More accepted then I used to. Now I don’t even feel like I have to fit in. I finally feel like I can actually be myself, and not fall into peer pressure. I feel like I can stand out. I have friends.
This year is currently my Junior year in high school, and I felt that I have grown since my freshman year. I feel more mature then I used to be. This year, I’m really starting to focus in the field of acting. The one thing that I loved since elementary school. I still don’t read much, but when it comes to acting, I’ll read almost anything, even Shakespeare. this year Performing Arts will be doing a show called “A midsummer night’s dream” this is one of Shakespeare’s more famous plays. It’s going to be held in our new black box theatre that’s going to open up sometime in the fall. It really makes me exited. Never have I been so exited for Shakespeare's work but now. It’s a major first for me.
Throughout the lifetime I’ve spent in school, I’ve never been a big reader. Truth is I’ll probably never be a big reader. Sure, I like a good book, but I would just prefer the movie instead. I don’t enjoy having to imagine what the characters look like; I also don’t like to have to think about the setting and their relationships. I want to see the characters, I want to see the setting, and I want to see the conflicts. I’m a movie kind of guy. I can’t help it. I feel that I can just enjoy a movie more than a book.
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Take Flight
Hey! I'm doing another blog for the week, and this one is abut my field trip to a great regional theatre located in New Jersey, the McCarter Theatre.
One day, my shop (The Performing Arts Academy) and I went to take a field trip to the McCarter Theatre. We have done this plenty of times before, but today was going to be a special one. Sure, we have seen great shows in the past in McCarter, (Twelfth Night, In the Red and Brown Water, She Stoops To Conquer, and American Buffalo just to name a few.) but this brand-new show premiere ever to be seen in America was finally making it's American debut. It was a new musical called Take Flight, and it was written by three ingenious people who won and were nominated for numerous Tony Awards. this show was surely going to be a treat. When we got over there, we were told that the show was located in the other theatre that was used for In the Red and Brown Water (the one with all the stairs). As we went to the other theatre, I couldn't help but notice that it looked different from the other show. The theatre somewhat started to remind me of a blackbox. Before the show started, We performing arts academy decided to show off our talents by singing for some of the employees and theatre comers when we went inside and took our seats. The people enjoyed our short performance, and renamed us a s "Camden County Glee". When the show finally started, we saw the Wright Brothers standing on the shore, each holding one side of a chest. I looked at the scenery, and thought "Well, that's way different from the last time I came and saw the other production here." The Wright brothers were the funniest characters in the show. One song that they were singing, they shouted "Everybody!" but we were so focused on the show, there was a strange silence, then people started to engage in laughter. During anther scene of the show, We see Amelia Airheart flying her plane, and while she was singing, we realized that she was cross-eyed! We couldn't help but laugh, we tried as hard as we could to control ourselves. When the show had ended, The whole audience had clapped and cheered, and we all went back to our bus. During the bus ride home, My friend Briana, (her blog: mrbriana.blogspot.com) decided to make a hilarious imitation of a singing cross-eyed Amelia. On a serious note, please come and watch this show! This show takes history and it makes it very fun and entertaining. Because of this fact, I would give it five stars, plus the wonderful music, and the fantasic singers and actors. Come see it!
One day, my shop (The Performing Arts Academy) and I went to take a field trip to the McCarter Theatre. We have done this plenty of times before, but today was going to be a special one. Sure, we have seen great shows in the past in McCarter, (Twelfth Night, In the Red and Brown Water, She Stoops To Conquer, and American Buffalo just to name a few.) but this brand-new show premiere ever to be seen in America was finally making it's American debut. It was a new musical called Take Flight, and it was written by three ingenious people who won and were nominated for numerous Tony Awards. this show was surely going to be a treat. When we got over there, we were told that the show was located in the other theatre that was used for In the Red and Brown Water (the one with all the stairs). As we went to the other theatre, I couldn't help but notice that it looked different from the other show. The theatre somewhat started to remind me of a blackbox. Before the show started, We performing arts academy decided to show off our talents by singing for some of the employees and theatre comers when we went inside and took our seats. The people enjoyed our short performance, and renamed us a s "Camden County Glee". When the show finally started, we saw the Wright Brothers standing on the shore, each holding one side of a chest. I looked at the scenery, and thought "Well, that's way different from the last time I came and saw the other production here." The Wright brothers were the funniest characters in the show. One song that they were singing, they shouted "Everybody!" but we were so focused on the show, there was a strange silence, then people started to engage in laughter. During anther scene of the show, We see Amelia Airheart flying her plane, and while she was singing, we realized that she was cross-eyed! We couldn't help but laugh, we tried as hard as we could to control ourselves. When the show had ended, The whole audience had clapped and cheered, and we all went back to our bus. During the bus ride home, My friend Briana, (her blog: mrbriana.blogspot.com) decided to make a hilarious imitation of a singing cross-eyed Amelia. On a serious note, please come and watch this show! This show takes history and it makes it very fun and entertaining. Because of this fact, I would give it five stars, plus the wonderful music, and the fantasic singers and actors. Come see it!
Monday, May 24, 2010
Dear Esther
Hey! Here's another blog about a show I went to see.
One day, I went to the Goodwin Holocaust Center to see this small show being performed called "Dear Esther". This show was about a survivor by the name of Esther who escaped a death camp during the Holocaust. In this show, an older Esther confronts her younger self as she tries to tell children of all ages and sizes her story. She comes face to face with something that she was well known for. During this show, letters are read aloud from children telling Esther about how they felt when she spoke to them. Actual letters from actual children. When I came to see this show, I wasn't really sure what to think. I was wondering how exactly it would work, because all I have seen was an empty stage. No scenery or anything. After the show, I was pretty surprised. There was a lot of dialogue, it made me wonder how the two Esthers could memorize all of those lines, but they did a good job. There were also other actors, who would pop in here and there to play a Nazi, or a victim in the camp that Esther went to.But overall, the show was pretty good. It wasn't bad for what it was, and I would recommend everyone to see this show.
One day, I went to the Goodwin Holocaust Center to see this small show being performed called "Dear Esther". This show was about a survivor by the name of Esther who escaped a death camp during the Holocaust. In this show, an older Esther confronts her younger self as she tries to tell children of all ages and sizes her story. She comes face to face with something that she was well known for. During this show, letters are read aloud from children telling Esther about how they felt when she spoke to them. Actual letters from actual children. When I came to see this show, I wasn't really sure what to think. I was wondering how exactly it would work, because all I have seen was an empty stage. No scenery or anything. After the show, I was pretty surprised. There was a lot of dialogue, it made me wonder how the two Esthers could memorize all of those lines, but they did a good job. There were also other actors, who would pop in here and there to play a Nazi, or a victim in the camp that Esther went to.But overall, the show was pretty good. It wasn't bad for what it was, and I would recommend everyone to see this show.
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Performing Arts
Hey! I have decided to write a blog about one thing that I absolutely love. This thing that I love is my shop, or career program. If you don't know, my career program is Performing Arts. If you do know, than congrats. My shop is the CCTS Performing Arts Academy.
Back in middle school, I have finally decided that my passion officially is to perform. The first official show that I have done was Seussical the Musical. I was a part of ensamble. I played a Who, a Cadet, and a Hunter. During the end of that school year, I wasn't sure what I was going to do when I went to High school. Until the school's vice principal, Mr. Edmund Cetrullo showed me an advertisement for this, "Performing Arts program" that was opening in September of 2008. It caught my interest, so I decided to go to the audition that was being held in this room that had computers in it. It looked like an office. I did my audition, and they liked me and decided to let me (And some other Glen Landing students) join the academy. So, in September of 2008, during my first day of high school, I walked into my Performing Arts shop. I noticed that it was the same exact room that I had done my audition, only with the computers removed. I looked around at the students, some old and some new, and I saw her. The same exact woman from my audition. I never knew this, but she was going to be the one who would help us build the strong foundation from that beginning, to when I will graduate. Her name is Mrs. Terry Bles, and she is the mother of the Performing Arts Academy. A lot of things have happened since September of 2008. We moved to a much larger space, We had two student teachers from this year and last year, we lost a pretty large amount of kids, and we are gaining a large amount of kids in the process. Our program went from traditional classes, to the new I.S.P. program. And we are about to move again, from our larger space, to a newly built black box theatre in our campus. We are constantly growing, and I highly doubt that it will stop. The shows that we have done so far: Act one, Stomp Odyssey & The Seussification of Romeo and Juliet, Little shop of Horrors, Grease (Summer Performing Arts), Act one: Scene Two, The Diary of Anne Frank, and the most recent, Cabaret. The Performing Arts Academy is also going to be doing another show in the summer, The Wizard of Oz. I really can't wait for it! And I also can't wait for next year, because every year, Performing Arts always brings something new to the table. So maybe one day, you can go and see a performance from the Performing Arts Academy at CCTS. You won't be disappointed!
Back in middle school, I have finally decided that my passion officially is to perform. The first official show that I have done was Seussical the Musical. I was a part of ensamble. I played a Who, a Cadet, and a Hunter. During the end of that school year, I wasn't sure what I was going to do when I went to High school. Until the school's vice principal, Mr. Edmund Cetrullo showed me an advertisement for this, "Performing Arts program" that was opening in September of 2008. It caught my interest, so I decided to go to the audition that was being held in this room that had computers in it. It looked like an office. I did my audition, and they liked me and decided to let me (And some other Glen Landing students) join the academy. So, in September of 2008, during my first day of high school, I walked into my Performing Arts shop. I noticed that it was the same exact room that I had done my audition, only with the computers removed. I looked around at the students, some old and some new, and I saw her. The same exact woman from my audition. I never knew this, but she was going to be the one who would help us build the strong foundation from that beginning, to when I will graduate. Her name is Mrs. Terry Bles, and she is the mother of the Performing Arts Academy. A lot of things have happened since September of 2008. We moved to a much larger space, We had two student teachers from this year and last year, we lost a pretty large amount of kids, and we are gaining a large amount of kids in the process. Our program went from traditional classes, to the new I.S.P. program. And we are about to move again, from our larger space, to a newly built black box theatre in our campus. We are constantly growing, and I highly doubt that it will stop. The shows that we have done so far: Act one, Stomp Odyssey & The Seussification of Romeo and Juliet, Little shop of Horrors, Grease (Summer Performing Arts), Act one: Scene Two, The Diary of Anne Frank, and the most recent, Cabaret. The Performing Arts Academy is also going to be doing another show in the summer, The Wizard of Oz. I really can't wait for it! And I also can't wait for next year, because every year, Performing Arts always brings something new to the table. So maybe one day, you can go and see a performance from the Performing Arts Academy at CCTS. You won't be disappointed!
Thursday, May 13, 2010
Strange Changes
Hey! I am feeling pretty bored today, so I decided to make a blog about changes that I've went, or currently going through. One change is the big one. Puberty. Right now, I'm a sophomore in high school, and I still do feel certain symptoms of it. Surprisingly, (to me) I'm actually still growing. I thought I reached my maximum height during Freshman year, but I was wrong. I'm not really sure how many inches I grew. But I know that I grew a couple. Another change that I am going through, is my surroundings. Throughout my life I have been constantly been moving from house to house. From Erial, to Laurel Springs, to Glendora, to Williamstown, to Somerdale, (I've been everywhere, man.) but throughout the many movements I have made in southern New Jersey I have found that I enjoyed looking at the new sights and hearing the new sounds when I would move. (even though I hated moving.) Also, I notice that there are certain changes around the people that I'm with. I notice that my parents are starting to look older, and also my sister. I notice that the friends that I made throughout the years have changed too. But no matter what will happen to me, I will always be Julian. Sure, I'll go through some experiences that I never went through before, and my life will change for better or worse, but no matter what, I will aways be that happy little kid that I was long ago.
I simply can't wait.
Ah, the school days are rolling past, and now summer is just around the corner. Honestly, I really can't wait for the summer to come. Why? because school is going to be out, and there will be summer vacation. I like summer vacation because I'll be able to sleep in. The usual time that I would have to wake up would be around five thirty. I HATE waking up at that time. That's why I love summer vacation. I can sleep in. I can wake up at around eight or nine thirty, and not have to worry about taking a large yellow bus to a place that can sometimes be a pain in my butt. Another reason that I like summer vacation is because I can just relax. I don't need to be going anywhere or doing anything, (unless I have intended to) because I'll be at home. There would be no need to be doing any projects, or studying for any tests. I'll just be laying on my sofa watching tv. But the number one reason to why I like summer vacation, is because of the work. Now, you're thinking, "But I thought you didn't like school work." well, that's not what I'm writing about. I really mean work for my future career. I plan to become an actor in the near future. So I'm currently in the CCTS Performing Arts Academy to build a strong foundation for my future career, and to gain expierence as a professional actor. During the summer, some of the CCTS kids from Vokey and Penn Tech, plus a couple of incoming eigth graders, all perform in one show. This year, the second annual, is going to be "The Wizzard of Oz". I plan to try out for the Cowardly Lion. Also, during that summer, I'm going to have a small role in an independent film. a good friend of mine, Joe Raffa, is going to be directing this movie around the New jersey Philly area called "You'll Know My Name", and he's decided to put a small part in the script just for me. Now, just because we're good friends, doesn't mean that he was going to put me on there in the first place. He knows how talented I am. He has seen me play Herr Shultz in "Cabaret". Because of my talent, He's decided to give me a chance. And I'm very thankful for it. So I really can't wait. Summer of 2010, here I come!!
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