After taking a gap year last year because of the way the pandemic was affecting my performance-based classes, I decided to wait to return to Wagner College until the fall of 2022. I needed to work on myself and I didn’t want to go back to college until I felt 100% myself. While I’m still on the Vineyard, I’ve been renting my own place—enjoying my independence—and working full time as a nanny to two children, which has been educational and entertaining in a world of less and less social contact.

While I miss being a full-time performer, I still have online voice lessons and rehearse, and I have been expanding my musical theatre repertoire. I’ve also been making new friends in the theatre industry online, and have been commissioned by several of them to create artwork. I am continuing writing my musical, and am also working on set design for Les Miserables at MVRHS, this year’s musical. While we don’t quite know how Covid will affect the performance, it has been great to be back working with the team. I’m looking forward to going back to Wagner, but in the meantime I have been teaching myself aerial arts at home, including Lyra and silks.