Feeling Inspired...

"Every great dream begins with a dreamer. Always Remember, you have within you the strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for the stars to change the world".

Harriet Tubman

Hello everyone!!

Ok, I apologise, I know I'm totally rubbish as I haven't updated the blog recently...but to make up for it prepare for more posts than usual this week!

I would like to say a HUUUUGGEE thank you to everyone who has donated money to me- £15.00 raised so far!!

Not quite enough to get me to the Big Apple but that's way more money than I expected, so thank you I can't express how much everyone's support means to me.

If you know of anyone who would be interested in this blog/ would like to donate £1 or however much then send them my way (Paypal link at bottom of page).

So this week I've been trying to think of ways to earn some extra cash:

I'm a skilled make-up artist so been busy trying to get more make-up jobs (anyone need a make-up artist for anything then please drop me an e-mail!)

I also customise/make clothes for people, again if you want to see pics of previous stuff/want stuff made, then drop me a message :)

I also set myself the challenge this week of trying to teach myself guitar...in the hope that one day I could go out and do some busking haha and earn some dollar that way :)

umm but let's just say it didn't go too well...

Lesson 1: Guitar strings break easier than I originally thought...

Lesson 2: Playing guitar and having nice nails just doesn't happen...

Lesson 3: Bit on guitar that I don't know the name of has broken...therefore can't play until its fixed but more than likely I'll have to buy a whole new one... :(

Clearly I'm not going to be the next female Jimi Hendrix....but I'll definately give it a go!!

Juggling all this with a full time job, trying to get more castings and writing more letters to people is pretty hard- particularly when you keep getting rejected by grants organisations who all keep saying the same, infuriating thing-

"Unfortunately we are unable to help you on this occasion. If you had written to us last year then we may have been able to help, but due to the current economical climate we are unable to..."

It's hard enough that they can't help me, but worse when they say if I'd applied a year earlier then I might have been eligible for something! - Im not going to lie, Im definatly feeling the strain!

To keep me motivated I've been trying to find some interesting and inspiring quotes (most of which have come from the NYCDA's blog so I would like to thank Charlie for his inspirational posts!!)

One that I have found particularly helpful- and that other people might find useful too- is this:

"It's not about how you win, it's about how you come back when you lose. How do you get up off the ground when knocked down?... Success is how high you bounce when you hit bottom...."

So here's my challenge to you- or more of a fun thing I suppose :)

If anyone has any funny or motivational quotes to keep me going then send them my way- they would be much appreciated!!

I hope you all have a good week and I will keep you updated with more news/ info on what I've been up to!

Thank you to everyone who has read or who regularly follows my blog and especially to the people who have donated money to my cause- lets all make this dream a reality!!!

https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=8511246

Dream With Me?

"When we are dreaming alone it is only a dream. When we are dreaming with others, it is the beginning of reality...."

- Dom Helder Camera

Hey everyone, hope you have all had a great weekend!

So here is my latest update as promised, although slightly later than originally planned- it's been one busy week!!

Firstly I would like to say a massive thank you to everyone who has donated money so far, I have been absolutely astounded by the amount of interest and generosity people have shown, so thank you!!

I still have a long way to go til I reach my goal but you have brought me that little bit closer to making my dream a reality :)

So this week I have been a pretty busy lady- I had a casting on Friday so lots of script reading, and I've been writing more letters in the hope that some organisations/individuals would be able to lend me some money for the course and also getting the government to change a few things...

At the moment I am not eligible for any kind of funding/student loan as I will be studying outside of the UK (seems perfectly understandable to me) BUT it's a little bit unfair as I know that students who come into the UK from overseas can be eligible for state funding... this makes me a tad frustrated!

I wrote to my local MP- The Hon Nicholas Soames who forwarded my case onto the Minister for Education, and yesterday I received a letter from the House of Commons...

I am still uneligible for any student loan/state funding...

BUT since I have brought my situation to their attention they have realised that more needs to be done in helping people who want to study overseas and are going to try and get more banks involved with the Professional Career Development Loan scheme (at the moment only two banks are involved so makes it harder for people to obtain them)

and make it easier for people to try and further their careers....which in the present economical climate is a pretty good RESULT!!

Ok so might not help me out that much but if I can help other people in the process then that's a major result in my eyes :)

There are still lots of people who I am awaiting replys from, and if anyone has any ideas on who else I could write to (anyone got Simon Cowell's address???) I would be exremely grateful!

I'm still coming up with ideas for money raising events so again any ideas/suggestions are most welcome :)

Once again thanks for all the support guys it seriously means a lot....and

if you know of anyone who woud be interested in following my quest or who would perhaps like to lend me a £1 then send them this way! (Paypal link at the bottom of this post)

Have a good week :)

https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=8184528

Hello!

Ok so in response to the very kind comments, enouragement and support that I've received so far, I have decided to set up a 'New York Fund' where people can- if they want to- generously donate £1 (or however much they want!) via Paypal.

I added a link at the bottom (I tried to add a Paypal Donate button to my blog but can't seem to get it to work so if anyone knows how to do this I would be grateful if you could let me know!!)

My aim being that hopefully I manage to find 64'000 lovely people to generously donate £1....haha so maybe that might be pushing it slightly but any money I may receive brings me that little bit closer to achieving my dream....and as they say - every penny counts!!

In return I will give you all weekly updates on how all the FUNdraising is going (see what I did there?!) what I've been up to , and also news and info on all the events that I have got lined up between now and August 2010....Looks like I'm in for one busy year! Bring it on!!!!!

Once again thanks to everyone who is backing me, I really am grateful for all the support and quite overwhelmed by the amount of interest and response I have received.... so muchos gracias :)

https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=7990042

The American Dream

Hey everyone!

So this is my first ever post on my first ever blog site :)

Still don't fully understand the whole blogging thing but I'm sure it won't take me long to suss it all out!

So I set up this blog to keep everyone updated on what I've been up to and to hopefully get some fundraising help/ideas for my 'big apple' shaped adventure...

In April 2009 I was lucky enough to get called to audition for one of the world's best drama school's- The New York Conservatory for Dramatic Arts.

http://www.sft.edu.com/

The audition was tough and I later found out that they audition 5000 people worldwide, with only 180 places to offer!

So the odds were high and if I'm completely honest I was over the moon that they even wanted to see me.

After the audition I was told that it could take up to two weeks for me to find out if I'd got a place or not...TWO WEEKS!!

Those were the longest two weeks of my life.

On Saturday 9th May at 8.50 pm I got a call

(I had just finished working a long day as a make-up artist on Oxford Street, had been out the night before so was feeling generally tired/hungover/cranky and was on the slowest train back home)

There was an American voice on the other end of the phone and it took me a while to register who it was- it was Kathy the lovely lady who saw me audition.

I prepared myself for the worst, thinking it's ok I can audition next year, practising in my head my best 'I'm-not-a-sore-loser-thankful-that-you-even-gave-me-a-chance-to-audition' voice!

So I was in complete shock when she asked me how I would like to come live in New York studying on their two year acting for film and television course!! AMAZING!!

(And yes I did jump up and down on the train like a crazy woman!!)

So initially I was meant to start the first semester on 26th August 2009, which meant that I had roughly 3 months to try to get funding. This is where the bad news comes in...for me to study over there for two years will cost me- get ready for it- a grand total of roughly £60'000 or $100'000!!!!!

Suffice to say I didn't manage to get the money in time :(

BUT... I have been told that they will hold me a place for next year :)

(which in itself is amazing because drama schools never normally do this).

Ok so that's A LOT of money to raise in one year but where there's a will there's a way.

Realistically I just need to find 60'000 people who would be willing to lend me £1 each....

So this outlines my quest in pursuit of my American dream and my lifelong ambition of becoming an oscar winning actress (that's the ultimate dream!)

I'm hoping to organise some fun money raising events and if anyone has any suggestions of people who could help/ that I could write to/ or if you're just interested then drop me an email!

Not bad for my first post I think- although I'll try not to make it as long next time!!