I have always wanted to be an actor. That's my dream. I first started to act in 2005 when I joined St. Lawrence NYSARC Community Arts Program’s Community Players, which is an acting group for young adults with disabilities who discover their creative talents onstage. When I started with the group I was really nervous and scared because I didn't know if I could do a good job and memorize all the lines. I wasn't sure how I would feel being in the spotlight all the time if I got a leading role, but I decided to try. The first play we did was an original play called "Murder on the Menu." I played the husband in the play which was a big role. Some people who were acting for the first time were nervous and did not remember their cue lines, but I did! I felt wonderful on stage and off. It was a great experience and made me realize that acting was really my dream. After that we did many other plays. I loved being in them all. One of my favorites was a play called "Just Like Me" which was written by the cast and used our own words talking about our disabilities and abilities, including Down syndrome and “up syndrome.” A few months ago we started working on something new. It was a silent movie for the Wilder Wilder Contest. The idea came from our director Lindsay Myers. We were supposed to act out a short play by American author Thornton Wilder and make a silent video of it to post on Facebook. Everyone posted their production on Facebook and the one with the most votes would be in the final five. Our play was called "The Message and Jehanne." We told everyone we knew about our play and convinced them to vote for us. I was concerned that we wouldn’t get enough votes and was really excited when it was announced that we had made it to the final five, which was our goal. We were also the top voted! But it was my dream and everyone's dream that we would win the contest. We had to wait a week for the judges to decide which video was the best. I was very nervous and biting my lip and crossing my fingers all the time. And then came the big news bombshell! On Friday morning, February 8th, I was on Facebook when I found out from the Wilder Wilder Contest Facebook page that St. Lawrence NYSARC Community Players had been announced as the winner of the contest! I was so happy I was jumping for joy! I came out of my room and I broke the exciting news to my mother and father. We celebrated all the dedicated hard work that we did. This win made me fully realize that I will continue to pursue my dreams and my talent on stage!