I am going to start this off by saying I love writing. Writing is the way I express my mind, heart, soul, pancreas. You name it – writing expresses it. With my degree in journalism and my experience with the paper, I hope to make a nice career for myself writing.

However, I am a woman of many dreams. I have decided to dedicate one year of my life after I graduate in May to fulfilling a dream many people have, few people pursue and even fewer people succeed in: I’m going to Hollywood.

Let’s start this story off right. Ever since I was a young teen, I have loved anime and cartoons. Anyone who knows me well enough has seen the wall scrolls of my favorite shows plastered all over my bedroom or peeked at my Facebook albums to see me grinning with my favorite voice actors. I said it. I am going to California to pursue a career in voice acting for animation.

Why did I choose to take this big (probably stupid) leap? It all clicked this summer.

Neon Genesis Evangelion was the anime that brought my attention to voice acting. The lead female character, Asuka, was loud, fearless and amazing. I wanted to be her.

Obviously, I can’t be an animated character (that I am aware of), so I settled on the next best thing: becoming an animated character’s voice.

Her English voice actor, Tiffany Grant, became my obsession. I even emailed her to get tips on how to make it in the business.

I finally met her over the summer and squealed like a fangirl when she signed my DVDs.  My mind was made up. I had to throw away my doubts and fears.  

The thing about this business is raw talent is a must. Period. Training is always encouraged but the general consensus of all that I have researched is that you have to be brave enough to jump right into it.

I have the raw talent. I may not be a songbird, but I do practice every chance I get to hone in all the voices I can do (my poor fellow editors are sick of me at this point).

The reason I am writing this to you, my lovely readers, is that I am encouraging you to be fearless.

Those impossible dreams all locked in your head? Let them out.

Follow them all the way to the end. Let us not become the next generation of regret.