I think the ultimate goal is that when we're off-stage, we know everything our character is thinking. Hopefully when we are on-stage, our thoughts are our character's thoughts because we really know that much about them.

I'm taking a pretty light load. I'm doing well. Gideon and Jason are both in school too, so we find time between shows to get work done, and during the day. I really like Columbia. Unlike high school, I don't feel any pressure to get straight-As. I just like learning.

I think that Diwata does not fit that mold. She's loud, she's a huge personality, she's imposing. I don't know if I'm the same thing in that sense, but what gives me the joy in playing her is the total rejection of needing to fit in. It's so inspiring.

Kids dealing with these really adult-problems. I'm making big, generalized statements but our culture doesn't acknowledge these things. Sex does lead to pregnancy! Kids don't always have an outlet or someone they can talk to about it.

I think that's also why it's so exciting. I really believe this play is important these are issues that people don't talk about. Certainly they never talked about this type of thing at my high school. That's what makes it so hard for kids. But it is something that people do go through.

An example I love: Diwata auditioned for the school play by doing a big number from Once Upon A Mattress. I went home and my boyfriend plunked out the notes for me, and I had to learn and prepare that song just so I could learn and know how that feels. I've never had that kind of detail in a rehearsal process. Jason Moore is absolutely unbelievable.

Portraying this character [Diwata] has really given me an opportunity to get in touch with that side of myself, which I haven't been for a few years. And I do know what it's like to be different from people around you and not fit into the prototypical mold of what America sort of thinks a girl "should be."