ME AND AMTC

The process that was AMTC (Actors, Models, and Talent for Christ) lasted about 11 months. AMTC's mission is to train talented people who are Christians to enter the entertainment industry. And because of just how tough that is, we need to be the most outstanding performers out there. Excellent in every way. But if you're going to do something, you need to do it the best you can.

So on February 5, 2014, my dad spotted a highway billboard advertising AMTC auditions here in Grand Rapids. He asked me when he got home that night if I wanted to audition for it. Thinking it would be a cool short-term thing to do, I said OK.

Little did I know, AMTC would change the entire course of my life. Five days later, on February 10, we went to the audition. I did a short commercial monologue for Minecraft (a video game), and then waited. The next day, I found out that I got the callback and was in. This began a long journey that challenged and transformed me in so many ways.

Throughout 2014, I traveled to Chicago six times for Launch weekends, which prepared me for the final event - a convention called SHINE that took place in Orlando from December 28, 2014 through January 4, 2015. After all the training I had received, I performed in seven showcases and was thrilled to make the acting finale as well!

Over the course of that year, I figured out that acting was going to be the main career pursuit of my life. My original agreement to what I thought was a one-time, local-to-Grand Rapids performance turned into something much, much, bigger. And you know what? It was the best decision I ever made.

Through AMTC, I met some of the coolest people that I'd met yet. And through the whole thing, one thing became clear to me: This is about the best business ever. AMTC was the boost that put me where I am now. If it weren't for them, I would still be just a normal kid doing homework and sitting around. And I have to sincerely thank them. The time period from February 10, 2014 to January 4, 2015 was the best chapter of my life to date - and AMTC grads are really like family forever. So it's not over. It's just the beginning!