On the evening of March 31, 2022, I came home from class at Cabrini University and drove to Philadelphia with my mom and younger sister. We were off to see Waitress at the Academy of Music, and I could not have been more excited.
The evening began with a quick dinner at The Cheesecake Factory on Walnut Street, and then we walked a block over to the musical’s venue. The time spent in line outside the theater went quickly, and before we knew it, we were seated in the fourth row of the parquet section, the lights had dimmed, and the curtains had opened…
My Introduction to Philadelphia
The Academy of Music has become one of my favorite places in all of Philadelphia, but it’s not where my “City of Brotherly Love” story began. I actually grew up in a suburban town just outside of the city. Most of my childhood was spent in small Catholic-school classrooms and neighborhood parks, or on basketball courts and local softball fields. Most of my earliest trips to the city consisted of quick excursions with my family to see the Christmas light displays at Macy’s or the Kimmel Center’s festive performances for the Fourth of July.
My first real introduction to Philadelphia came in the form of a sport: cross country.
From Kindergarten through my senior year of high school, I spent multiple days a week driving to Belmont Plateau, where I would compete in 5k races against other Archdiocese of Philadelphia students. My days spent racing there helped me to view Belmont as almost like its own little island in Philadelphia, as it felt separated from the city I had heard of: one full of tall buildings, smoke, and horrible sewer smells. Instead, my times at Belmont gave me a sense of what Philadelphia could offer: diversity, drive, and, most importantly, opportunity. Having pleasant experiences at Belmont encouraged me to venture farther into the city and see what more beauty Philadelphia could provide—namely, musical theater.
The Magic of the Academy of Music
In first grade, I saw my very first piece of musical theater: Mary Poppins. My grandmom, mom, sister, and I made our way to the famous Academy of Music to see one of my favorite stories come to life. I wore one of my fanciest dresses and felt like I was about to see something truly remarkable. That feeling rang true when Mary Poppins rose from the stage and flew right over our heads and out into the audience. I was absolutely mesmerized. That sense of magic that the musical created lit a spark in me that would stick around for years to come.
Over the subsequent years, I got to play a small part in that magic as I acted in my high school’s and Cabrini University’s musicals and dramas. The stage had become a second home to me as I became more comfortable acting, singing, and dancing on it. It was during these years that I returned to Philadelphia for theater once more.
A few weeks before my sophomore year of high school, my mom and I won the rush-ticket lottery to see Wicked at the Academy of Music. A few months after that, my family returned to the theater again to see Finding Neverland, one of my all-time favorites. These shows once more showed me the magic that can be created through storytelling. They brought me into the elaborate worlds of Oz and Neverland, making me feel sad for a green witch and empathetic for a young boy who lived over a century ago. Seeing the magic I remembered from Mary Poppins taken to a whole new level (more flying, special effects, moving props, and powerful ballads) stoked the flame inside me. These shows started to show me that I wanted to be on that stage myself or the one writing the scripts—either way, I was beginning to understand that I wanted to be a part of that magic.
During my sophomore year of college, that flame inside me grew to a full-on fire. It was that year that my family bought me tickets to see Waitress, the first show that I saw without prior knowledge of the plot. I was going into it completely blind, but I was excited—Philadelphia’s theater had yet to let me down, and it surely wouldn’t with this one, either.
It, of course, didn’t; the show was amazing.
The music had beautiful lyrics full of figurative language relating baking to the protagonist’s life, such as those in one of my favorite songs, “What Baking Can Do.” It also featured complex characters and a storyline that was powerful and dramatic yet still charming and comedic. Because of the skill and dedication put in by all of the crew members, the show was able to take a simple and relatable plot and turn it into something that had audience members laughing, crying, and cheering throughout, making it one of the most memorable pieces of live theater for me.
I sat in that Philadelphia theater after the Waitress cast’s final bows feeling incredibly moved. Seeing that musical reminded me of the power of storytelling and how amazing it can be to see oneself represented in media. I was officially instilled with a longing to create my own art that would benefit people, or at least make them feel something. I wanted to make something that would cause audiences to experience a vast range of emotions, just as the Academy of Music’s shows had done for me.
Unfortunately, I knew it was unlikely that I would be a part of a story that magnificent if I stayed on my then-current path. Upon that acknowledgment, I was overcome with a sense of finality—I would have to move my education from the suburbs to Philadelphia, where I would be around more creative types and feel empowered to create something extraordinary.
Thus began my transfer journey.
Transferring to Temple University
In January 2023, I left my old university behind and commuted to Philadelphia, enrolling as a Media Studies and Production student at Temple University, right in the heart of the city. I was suddenly surrounded by bustling crowds of people from all over the world who had their own stories to tell, which might have unnerved me at one point in my life. Luckily, the environment wasn’t totally foreign to me.
My Philadelphian excursions, especially those to Belmont Plateau and the Academy of Music, had prepared me for being around a set of diverse and driven people—I found myself feeling welcomed, uplifted, and inspired by the large range of voices around me when I arrived, rather than nervous or intimidated. My trips to the city for shows, races, and holiday events had given me a sense of familiarity within Philadelphia, and I was growing used to the tall buildings and still-not-so-great smells that seemed to be everywhere outdoors. I was newly invigorated and thrilled for the years at Temple that awaited me.
As I have continued my studies at Temple, I have felt excited to tell stories in creative ways. I get to collaborate with others on Temple Tonight, a late-night TV show where we write jokes and sketches to be performed in front of a live studio audience, hoping to make viewers laugh. I also get to tell parts of my own story through my work as an opinion writer for Temple’s chapter of Her Campus. Through my articles, I have been able to talk about my experiences with transferring schools, running, and turning 22, which readers may find relatable.
My media-based classes at Temple have been very rewarding, too. They teach me how to work with others to capture visually appealing stories throughout Philadelphia. One of my favorite class projects had me working with my lab and executive producing a television episode that required filming all over campus. Putting our creative minds to use and creating a comedic final project that was full of aesthetic shots was a lot of fun and assured me that transferring to a school full of storytellers was the right move.
During my time at Temple, I have also found myself looking for inspiration throughout the school and overall city, as my eyes have been opened to the art that surrounds me. My drives through Philadelphia’s back roads on my way to campus are full of breathtaking murals and more than a few eccentric individuals, and I can’t help but feel compelled to think up stories for each and every one of them. My visits to Reading Terminal Market and Love Park are filled with street musicians playing their drums and saxophones, creating the background music for my adventures and inspiring me further. My returns to the Academy of Music, a place that has given me so much already, bring me a renewed sense of purpose and motivate me to keep seeking out new stories.
A True Philadelphian
My story has had plenty of plot twists. If someone had called me a “Philadelphian” when I was a child, I probably would have stared in disbelief, as I couldn’t see myself spending more time in the city than what was necessary for my cross-country meets and the occasional holiday trip.
Now, however, this term is beginning to feel true. I spend more than just weekends in the city; my Mondays through Fridays are spent learning at a world-renowned campus in one of the country’s oldest and most famous cities, and my weekends are often spent returning to the city to catch another one of the Academy of Music’s Broadway Series shows, like Frozen or SIX.
All this time spent in the city in recent years, especially this past year as a student at Temple, has made me realize that I might actually be considered a Philadelphian.
I think I can officially wear this term with pride now. I have been coming into the city my whole life, but now I feel like I am a part of it, rather than just a passerby who is out of place. I have been to places rich with history like the Academy of Music, have taken the leap to change my educational journey, and am finally telling stories of my own in this city. I am no longer just an inspired theater kid—instead, I am learning how to be one of the people who does the inspiring as I begin my media-based career.
That day at Philadelphia’s Academy of Music changed everything. I was no longer a mere audience member. Rather, I was a storyteller myself with plenty to share. I am excited to spend one more year studying in this city that is full of art, and I cannot wait to see what characters and plotlines I encounter in my career after graduating.
For now, I will continue looking for inspiration in this beautiful city and use my past experiences in the theater to motivate me until, much like at the Academy of Music’s shows, the curtains close on my time at Temple.