What makes me happy about the show, and what I hope people take away from it is: "Just be yourself." I know that's supremely corny, but I really think that just being honest with yourself and being honest with everyone around you is the best way to live.

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."

What makes me happy about the show, and what I hope people take away from it is: "Just be yourself." I know that's supremely corny, but I really think that just being honest with yourself and being honest with everyone around you is the best way to live.

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.

In high school, people are sometimes encouraged to be like everyone else. What's so great about this show is that these kids are weird and different and over-achievers. They know what they want and they're going after it. They're weird and they don't deny it. That's what makes it special.

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'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.