Nick has been a student since September of 2019, and it feels like he’s been here forever. He came looking for an acting class that would bring him out of his shell, and he found a community that feels like family to him. What makes him fit so well is his love for other people; love is the center value of this studio, and Nick lives it. Here’s his Dearing Story.
The tower
Nick enlisted in the Air Force just before 9/11 and served as a weapons technician at Luke Air Force Base. Coming out of the military was its own fight: finding a job, carving a path, when the skills he’d learned didn’t translate to the civilian world. His philosophy, which I love, was to keep pushing forward through the hardest stretch. He landed at an engineering firm fixing cell towers. He had been afraid of heights his whole life. He knew the job was right, so he climbed. What it means to him to stand at the top of a tower he was scared of is something we talked about for a while, because everyone has a tower, and the climb is the same for all of us.
Love at the center
Nick and his mother moved to Arizona together, and she passed away in 2015. He talks about that time as the first time he truly understood unconditional love, and about feeling the bond with her as strong after as it was before. Our three values are passion, love and mastery, and love is in the middle on purpose. It’s the center of everything we do. Nick’s love for his mother, the kind that outlasts a life, is the clearest picture of it I’ve been given, and it’s why every day is a gift worth showing up for. Before he found the studio, Nick says, he struggled to make each day positive. The energy in the room made him ask why he didn’t feel that way every day, and then go find out.
In Nick’s words
How has the studio impacted you?
“Before I found the studio, I struggled to find ways to make every day a positive light. If something negative happened, I would let it affect me and make my day bad. Now that has all changed.”
Do you remember your first class?
“I do. I remember sitting in the parking lot looking in at all the people talking, and I started getting negative thoughts. All the what-ifs. What if they don’t like me, what if I embarrass myself. But immediately after the first game I felt at home and comfortable.”
One word for the studio?
“Passion. Everything that is done, from the time I walk in, to the exercises, to the scenes, to the coaching, is passionate. It comes from the soul.”
Your next step
Nick sat in the parking lot. Then he came in.
Adult Script meets Monday and Tuesday evenings in Phoenix, and Adult Improv Wednesday and Thursday. The first game is where the nerves go.
See Adult Script All classes, ages 5 and up