Thank You, Anne Lewis

When I was in college, I had a professor named Anne Lewis. She was my first semester acting prof., and a personal mentor who guided me out of a lot of the trauma that I was re-experiencing upon leaving my dad.

Anne was tough. But loving and kind. She commanded respect. I admired her. She replaced the shattered role model of what a real woman should be.

Anne told me, in my first semester..."You have a gift for honesty."
I was thankful for that: both, that I had the gift, and moreso, that somebody...somebody of value...saw it.

I will never forget when I spoke with her about leaving the Theatre major, or college altogether.
She did not agree that I should drop out, or even take a Leave of Absence...she gave me opinions on dropping or keeping the major. But, she said something that always stuck with me:

"It doesn't matter what field you're in, Laura. You will be a success. Because you are a hard worker."

I was never "talented". I never "got the part" on luck. I never just "got a good grade". I was never just "given money".
So, I had to work. Sometimes I worked too hard, and not efficiently. Over time, I have whittled down my skill sets to work smart, rather than hard and laboriously.

And now, I have 100% faith in what she told me. I will never allow anyone to tell me otherwise.