You Miss 100% of the Shots You Don't Take

I am proud to say that my niece was recently accepted to the LaGuardia High School of Performing Arts. This school was immortalized in the movie and TV series "Fame," and remains to this day a magnet for young people in New York City interested in a performing arts career. Only 3% of the students who apply are accepted to its drama program -- a lower admissions percentage than Harvard, Yale, and Stanford. Her parents and I were surprised that my niece wanted to apply. We knew she enjoyed going to live shows, and attended a drama camp between 7th and 8th grade, but other than that she never expressed much interest in acting. She wasn't "on," all the time, as many young actors are. Despite living in Manhattan, she never asked to be taken to auditions for young people. She did try out for her Middle School musical, but felt lucky to make the chorus. One month before her audition, she still hadn't settled on her two monologues. She wanted to try, so she worked to memorize her two monologues. She applied the acting knowledge she learned during camp to create characters, and received two one-hour coaching sessions from a professional director that my brother knew. New York being filled with young actors, I'm sure there were many students that spent more time on their monologues than she did. Yet she was accepted, while many of her friends, including everyone with a lead in her Middle School musical, were not. Have you ever thought about not trying to live your dreams because the odds of success were small? When you do, think about my niece. Yes, her chances were small, particularly for someone with limited experience. But she wanted to try, so she did her best and was accepted! Don't be afraid to take a shot at what you want because you think you might fail. If you have a dream to create great content, or do some other job in the entertainment industry, go for it! You just might succeed. One thing I can guarantee -- if you don't try, you will certainly fail. After all, the acceptance rate at La Guardia High School among students who didn't apply is 0. As the great hockey start Wayne Gretzky said, "You miss 100% of the shots you don't take." Go ahead. Take your shot.