I am a musical theatre and dance artist originally from Connecticut, but have grown up in a suburb in Illinois. I grew up Catholic, but I have grown away. My growth has brough me to find the United Church Of Christ. I am proud to follow the teachings of Jesus; of love, acceptance, and activism for good in the world. I strive for my actions and words to demonstrate that love. When I was young, I considered myself conservative. I had grown up in an affluent area only knowing conservative teachings and people. I wanted for nothing.
When I went to college in the city of Chicago at the age of 18 my eyes were opened. I experienced situations I had never seen in my affluent suburban upbringing. I met: friends with abused parents, friends who were abused, strangers in my classes who had been raped and had an abortion and were trying to pick up the pieces emotionally with no support, friends who were from the inner city with no financial support, and people with no family. It is easy to believe and stick to your beliefs when you have had a privileged upbringing and never have experience that life is not black and white.
Onto the next year; I transferred to another college more west than Chicago. As part of the liberal arts curriculum I took a sociology class. This single class shattered any chance of my being conservative for the rest of my life. We read the book Nickled and Dimed. From this class I read statistics on institutional racism. I learned people of minorities from inner cities cannot just “get a job.” They would have to take off the already 1+ jobs they already have to go on an interview; which would mean losing money for necessities. In order to take off to get to the interview, they would have to be able to afford the transportation to get there and have the clothes to be able to be competitive for the interview. This shattered all preconceived notions I had on how our country works. From learning at a college level with different perspectives from all walks of life and factual sources I learned my black and white world had melted into gray.
Since then, I’m proud to be: an actor, an empath, an LGBTQIA advocate, an advocate for women, an advocate for the abused, a sexual education advocate, an advocate for minorities, an advocate for all lives everywhere, and an advocate for the truth. I am a proud, empathetic, informed, artistic advocate. I’m proud to be engaged to a wonderful man, Jack Mikolajczyk, who is an immigrant from Poland, a United States Citizen, and stands by my side as an advocate for historical perspective, truth, love, and justice.
Informed Artist 