This Time Last Year...

This time last year, I graduated from Year 12. It's insane that it has been a year. An entire year since our farewell assembly, followed by our grade spending the rest of the day in the park by the river and the euphoria and excitement of having finally finished, followed by graduation night where the tears flowed - rather, gushed like a torrential downpour - at the thought of leaving the people we had spent thirteen years of our lives with.

All that was a year ago. Now we're all at uni (or theatre school!) or TAFE or working, and the HSC is a distant memory. But today, as Facebook is flooded with this year's Yr 12's graduation statuses, all those feelings of a year ago are flooding back. Don't get me wrong, there's no way I would ever wish us back to the HSC, but I do miss it. I miss my school, my teachers and my grade. I miss seeing everyone every day and sharing life together. I miss the community. I've been so blessed with my group of friends, and we frequently catch up and make sure we see each other, like I always knew we would. We're too close to just stop seeing each other. But it's the people who are not in my tight knit group of friends who I don't see. I knew it would happen, but it is still weird that I haven't seen so many people in a year that I normally would have seen every day.

It is very weird not feeling like you own the school. I have visited the school to see teachers and students a couple of times over the past year, and it is the oddest feeling going from being the oldest grade in the school and knowing everything about it and feeling like you run the place, to being an outsider. You realise that the school grows and moves on without you. There are new buildings, new teachers and new students.

I must admit, though, I have always been welcomed warmly when I've visited the school. My teachers love to hear what I've been doing and how I'm going and - probably because I want to be an actor - a lot of the students and friends from lower years are really keen to catch up and there's a kind of novelty to being there. I visited just last week to talk to the Yr 12 Drama class about studying drama outside of school, and I walked into our school's cafe to be greeted by a girl screaming "You were on Puberty Blues, weren't you?! You're awesome!!" It was a very odd occurrence, one that I'll admit I liked, but it was made even more amusing by the fact that I've only done extras work so far. I can't wait to visit after I've actually played a role!

So over the past year, we've all grown up a lot, at least I know I have, we've moved on to different and exciting things, and we've forgotten there was ever a thing as horrid as the HSC. I guess what I'm worried about the most is moving further and further away from everyone. Especially for me pursuing acting - I have no idea where that could take me, but I know that I won't be staying in the same place surrounded by the people I've grown up with. And that's exciting, but terrifying. And we adapt. I hardly realise it's happening while it is, especially because I'm so passionate and excited about acting and determined to achieve a career in it, I have little time to think about anything else. It's just days like these that make me stop and think and realise that things aren't going to stay the same forever. And that has pros and cons. I just thank God for my friends because I know that no matter how far away we are, we'll never completely lose touch. And that's something that I think is rare - I know a lot of people who have completely lost touch with their school friends.

Well, hasn't today made me melancholy?! I'm going to the graduation tonight to support my friends in Yr 12, which will no doubt be the culmination of my reminiscing, and then I'll be back to the excitement that is theatre school and seeing where God  takes me over the next twelve months!

The Taste of Freedom...

I won't lie...I spent a couple of hours yesterday morning trying to figure out what to do with myself and generally feeling like I was at a loose end, however Day 2 and I think I'm getting used to this now HSC thing! I have been spending yesterday and today working on my audition monologue for Sydney Theatre School (audition is tomorrow morning!!) and I'm feeling confident with it...well, at least I'm happy with it! Hear's hoping the audition panel feel the same!

     I have recently acquired Season 1 of Packed to the Rafters, possibly my favourite TV show ever and definitely my favourite Australian show. I only started watching it on TV when they were up to about Season 3, though, so I'm loving going back to the very start and seeing how the characters started off and how they've grown up and developed since season 1, especially Rachel - I had no idea she had such a rough and intense start to the show! I've also gained Season 3 of The Big Bang Theory (my favourite sitcom) and so I've been working my way through that as well :D Yes, this is what I do when I've got nothing else to do. I'm going to read back over this in a couple of years and feel sick at how sad and pathetic this is xD 

     Something else I do in my free time is trawl through youtube for interviews with actors - I will, and I think I probably have, sit for hours and watch interviews with actors (real interviews with real actors...I'm not sitting here watching Robert Pattinson talking about what he ate for breakfast...) If you're like me - I highly doubt there is anyone as obsessed with interviews with actors as I am - but if you are, check out this one I found today with Cate Blanchett (ok, so most of the interviews I watch are with Cate Blanchett...what of it?) and Richard Roxburgh talking about Uncle Vanya - a Chekhov play that the Sydney Theatre Company put on last year. You may find it really boring, but I just love sitting and listening to actors talking about their craft!

     Tomorrow I will update you on how my Sydney Theatre School audition went - hopefully with all good news :) I won't know if I've been accepted or not until mid/late December, but I'll tell you how I feel about it! I don't even know if anyone reads this, but if you are, let me know about anything exciting coming up in your life! Are you an actor like me with upcoming auditions or maybe you have a job interview somewhere? Or maybe you're going somewhere in the Christmas holidays that you're really excited for? If you've already left school, can you remember when you finished Yr 12? What did you do in the first couple of days after finishing? Did it feel as weird as it feels for me?

     I'll leave you today with another song that I absolutely love at the moment - last time I showed you 'Pack Up' by Eliza Doolittle and today I'll show you another of my favourites at the moment, and that's 'Set Fire to the Rain' by the simply amazing and stunning Adele. I could list her whole album up here, but I'll just choose this one - enjoy!! 

Until we type again,

Xavier Cooper.

Fin.

     

     

     You will be pleased to know that you no longer have to endure any more HSC related posts due to the ridiculously amazing fact that I am done with it forever!! Who would have thought the day would come?! My final exam was yesterday afternoon and I cannot describe the feeling of freedom I have right now!! I don't have to worry that I should be studying, I don't have an assignment or major work that I should be working on, I don't have an essay that I should fix up - I can just do whatever I want to do completely guilt free!! It.Is.Amazing. I can FINALLY focus 100% on achieving everything that I want to achieve in my life. I can put all my efforts into my acting and pursuing that career - I have been waiting SO LONG to be able to do that without feeling guilty because I should be doing school work instead.

     And also....I got the Front of House job the Joan Sutherland Performing Arts Centre/Q Theatre!! I have quit McDonalds and had my last shift there last Saturday. I am so excited about this job! It pays better than maccas and is a WAY better environment - I mean, I'm working in a theatre, not a fast food restaurant! Plus, if I'm ushering during my shift, I get to sit in on the shows :) I've also got an audition at Sydney Theatre School for their one year Diploma of Theatre Performance course this Saturday. Hopefully all goes well - I'll let you know how it goes! I'm also auditioning for NIDA and WAAPA this month, but I'm much more confident that I'll get into the Sydney Theatre School course because it's not as selective and prestigious as NIDA or WAAPA (which are almost impossible to get into, and they hardly ever take people first year out of school). It's basically designed to train you to audition for NIDA and WAAPA again at the end of next year, and it's a part time course so I'd be able to work and audition for roles at the same time, which is really good.  I'm really excited for what God has in store for my future now that I'm completely finished with school, and at the moment it is looking good :)

   I've recently been constantly playing this song - I heard it on the radio a couple of days ago, bought it because I liked it so much, and it's been constantly playing since :)

Halfway Point...

Yesterday, the day I've been waiting to be over for so long finally drew to a close, signalling the end of English exams forever. Goodbye Al Pacino and your egotism FOREVER. Goodbye Mark Baker and your nonsensical ramblings FOREVER. And Tim Winton, it's been fun and full of textual integrity, but it is time to move on.

So, basically I am insanely happy right now and have a little under a week before my next exam, which is giving me lots of time to relax and study :)

Also, you should all click on the following link and vote for my video review I made for a Quickflix competition to find a TV presenter for a new Entertainment program they are making. I would really really appreciate it if you did this for me - my video is the 'Neverwas 30 Second Film Review', but this link should take you straight to it.
http://apps.facebook.com/contestshq/contests/160243/voteable_entries/34034751?order=recency&view_entries=1

I'm really excited about this competition, and you can enter as many times as you like, so I may end up making more. If the runners of the competition like me enough, I may just have a 5 week TV presenting job in November/December - which would be beyond amazing!

Anyway, that's what I've been working on today - do you guys have any interesting stories to tell or things happen to you recently? I'd love to hear from you!

Well, until I type next...or you type next, which would be even better!

And so it Begins...

Today is the day the HSC begins. For those of you who are not in Australia, the HSC is the final examinations students complete at the end of Yr 12 of school - the Higher School Certificate. I find myself less scared and more excited - I've had three weeks of holidays in which to study and I just want to get these exams over and done with so I can fully focus on achieving what I want to in life. On the 2nd of November I will complete my last exam and that date can't come soon enough, so that is why I am excited to get started. The sooner I start, the sooner I finish.

This afternoon is my first exam: Drama. I feel prepared and I'm not too worried, so all is fairly well. I am currently sitting outside, sipping my tea and writing this. I feel quite relaxed, actually. No doubt that will change in a couple of hours. It's odd, I guess it kind of feels like the calm before the storm...

 Oh, I must tell you - I've been asked in for a job interview at the Joan Sutherland Performing Arts Centre/Q Theatre for job as an usher/bar tender. I'm very excited at the prospect of quitting McDonalds, where I have been working for the past 4 years! I really hope I get the job - I love the theatre and the atmosphere there (plus, the pay is better than Maccas and you get to sit in on shows :D) In a couple of weeks I will be able to tell you if I got the job or not.

 Well, for now, I shall leave you and get back to some last minute revising and cementing of information and quotes into my brain for this afternoon.

 I'll type again soon :)