March 14 Jessie gets an e-mail from her # 1 school Purchase. She has been placed on the highly ranked waiting list.AMAZING,HAPPINESS, SHEER JOY!!! Of all the hundreds of actors that apply to Purchase to be on this list is beyond words. For Purchase the "highly ranked waiting list" means they have offered one blond a spot at Purchases BFA Acting program and if that "blond" does not accept that offer(ex.accepts an offer from a different school) then they will offer Jessie a spot in the BFA Acting program. The 1st "blond" has until May 1st to make up her mind. The e-mail also said that they like to let all wait lists know by May 1st, but occasionally spots become open up until August 1st. I also want to try again to explain what I mean when I say "1 blond". Purchase is a Conservatory Acting program (like many other of the schools Jessie auditioned at) which puts a Freshmen class together that will work and do all there shows drawing from only actors in there class for the next 4 years. It makes sense to try to put together a group of diverse looking students to fill all the roles that they would need in any given production. So typically there is only one petite blond when you are looking at 10 girls in the Freshman class. This is also true for Rutgers where she is on the wait list-they take only 8 girls.
Fast forward to March 23rd it's a Saturday and Jessie Drew and I have been out somewhere doing who knows what really I don't remember. We pull up to the mail box on our way in, I open it slowly knowing that this is the day Brooklyn College said they would let students know by. I definitely have a pit in my stomach, the first thing that catches my eye is a thick letter from Brooklyn College. I start yelling "it's here it's here". Jessie immediately starts screaming because of the density of the letter(she has had a few waif thin rejection letters by this point come through that mail box). She rips open the envelope and reads aloud the only sentence she could get out before she starts to scream "we are pleased to inform you.......at this point she is laughing crying and screaming and some how she is in the car literally in a head stand. I kid you not. 1 of 6 girls 1 of 6 girls =blessed.
A couple days later Jessie receives an email from Rutgers requesting that she come to visit the school, sit in on some classes and perform for faculty who hadn't seen her audition in NY. Essentially this is a callback. Rutgers has an amazing program and we plan to stop on our drive home from Florida. It is now Easter week, a week in Florida to relax and we thought we would be celebrating a decision made. But, as much as Jessie likes Brooklyn and others she is still on the wait list for a few top schools.
The thought of a chance at Rutgers and going to London for a full school year training and performing on the world famous Globe theater is an opportunity you do not take lightly. We leave Florida early on Saturday morning and arrive at Rutgers at 3 pm Sunday afternoon. It is a beautiful day in New Brunswick NJ we check in our hotel and go out to explore the campus. The campus is spread out and has some pretty buildings but overall not great in terms of how it is located, not on a separate campus but woven into this city. I wouldn't mind this but I am trying to be honest here -it was a little scary. It seemed like a very low economically developed area and by the second day I also started to notice that police were scarce. I was also surprised to find that unlike most other city schools that we visited there was no visible security at the actual school buildings. I tried to keep my reservations to myself.
The next morning Jessie was to meet up with a current BFA student and go to all her classes with her. When I picked Jessie up at 6:00 pm she was glowing, she absolutely loved the Professors and classes were amazing. She talked excitedly about how she got to participate and interact with the current students. She went to a speech class, an acting class and a movement class. " I could be extremely happy doing those classes 3x a week" Jessie said as she told me all about them. She also met with the 2 heads of the department Barbara and Kevin, they had her do her one contemporary monologue and had a short interview. She was thankful and at the same time slightly disappointed that it wasn't for the entire staff. Always a performer! The second year students had a dress rehearsal on Monday night so Barbara asked Jessie to go. We decided to stay another night and take in the show. It was a wonderful, full of drama and humor. We left Rutgers the next morning Jessie full of hope and possibility me full of trepidation.
It is now April 9th and coming back to Syracuse and school is difficult for Jess especially with no clear idea of where she will be next year........it also doesn't help that spring has not begun to show the promise of new life yet, it is cold, windy and gray out. The first thing I do is check the mail. Jessie had a letter from PACE a school she thought she did not have a chance at. She was also put on the wait list there. Another great school but one Jessie felt was not for her.
Jessie has gotten a few e-mails from Purchase since that first e-mail and she has emailed them several times -just to make sure they know she's still interested and now she is doing the same for Rutgers. She sent her "Thank you for having me, it was a terrific day, I love your program......blah blah blah". Soon after she sent it she gets an e-mail back from the admissions office saying "I'm sorry to inform you that we cannot offer you a spot in our BFA Acting program for the fall of 2013, We will keep you in mind for 2014. Shoot, Jessie was mad, she just felt like she had wasted her time and really liked that program. Truth be told I was relieved.
Next day comes, now mind you it's a Saturday and Jessie gets a message from Rutgers marked URGENT! CRITICAL ERROR. Basically saying that yesterday's e-mail was a mistake that they are still very interested in Jessie and would like her to continue to be on the wait list. Holy roller coaster! So here we are it is now Friday April 19th and we are still waiting. For me I'm praying to be able to accept where ever she ends up and know that living with an open hand means being out of my comfort zone. It's funny how God uses things in our lives to work through issues we haven't quite been able to deal with before. Safety issues, trust issues. Psalm 118:6 "The Lord is with me, I will not be afraid; what can anyone do to me?" For Jessie it is hard to make plans, even thinking about a graduation party or summer plans doesn't feel right until she knows. Its like she is on hold going through her days checking her e-mail or her phone for a call. May 1st is just around the corner. Praying and clinging to the fact that God knows where she will be next year and He will be right there with her.
