Excellence and Following Your Dreams with Michelina

When I think of a talented, hardworking, and all-around beautiful person, I think of my cousin Michelina. Ever since we were young, I’ve always been inspired by her drive and motivation to accomplish amazing things. She is the embodiment of a multifaceted all-star: she’s a director, actress, singer, and dancer, and even wrote and directed her own play!

She’s now at Fordham University, where she studies Theatre with a concentration in Directing. Amidst her busy rehearsal schedule, we chatted about all things motivation, success, and developing the confidence to follow your dreams.

Emma: I’m so excited to talk about all of your advice for success. I want to start by asking, what’s your motivation for every day?

Michelina: From a young age, I’ve been very driven and I have to give 100% to everything I do (which can be both a good and a bad thing!) I truly believe that every person has potential for greatness, and I think we just all want to do our best and live up to our full potential. Every morning I just want to be the best person I can be, and at the end of the day make myself proud. 

E: I can confidently speak for everyone that you make us all so proud! Are there any specific habits or a mindset that has helped you reach your goals or that you attribute to your success? 

M: First of all, I don’t want to seem like I have it all together because I don’t haha! But at school, I’ve realized there are a multitude of things that help me stay focused and achieve what I want to achieve. First, it’s putting yourself in the environment that you thrive in. For me, it’s played a big part being in New York City, but environment can even just be the people that you surround yourself with. I feel very lucky because all of my friends, family, and classmates are very motivated and hardworking people. When you’re surrounded by those kinds of people, it makes you really push yourself and never lose sight of your goals. In terms of habits, realistically, with my crazy theatre schedule, things like stretching, yoga, journaling, and meditation, don’t happen every day, but I do make a point to practice those habits at least a couple times a week. One thing that I do every night is I have at least 30 minutes to an hour of just “me time” -- I put away distractions and focus on taking that time to recharge and be with myself before I go to sleep.

E: Yes, speaking of routines! You know I love them. What are your morning and night routines like?

M: Usually in the morning I’ll wake up, roll out of bed, wash my face, brush my teeth, eat my breakfast, and then run off to class, which I have the rest of the day. When I don’t have rehearsals, I’ll usually go for a walk with a friend in Central Park or Riverside Park in the afternoon. Then, I’ll come back to my room, make dinner, take a shower, and then have that “me time.”

E: I love the balance! It sounds like you have your priorities set and have a place for everything in your routine so you can get the most important things done. 

M: Absolutely! 

E: So, you’re very intelligent. I wanted to ask if you have any tips on how to become smarter?

M: I think it’s all about perspective. I don’t fully believe in the labels of grades; I think of intelligence more as your perspective on the world and your openness to being educated and constantly learning, so I always try to have this mindset that I never stop learning. I like to think about seeing everything in your day to day life as an opportunity to learn and grow as a person. I think ignorance and thinking that you're done growing and learning can be so problematic for so many people. So, I focus on being open to everything I learn about and see how it’s helping me to become a better human.

E: I love the mindset that everything is an opportunity to learn. I try to do that too, sometimes I fall short, though!

M: It’s never perfect!

E: Very true! So, when you’re going after goals, how do you develop confidence and self-belief? 

M: I love this question. This is actually something I’m struggling with right now and I think it’s something that everyone struggles with, especially artists. It’s such a competitive field that we’re in, and when you’re feeling the imposter syndrome that you don’t belong here and everyone else is so much better, it's really hard in those moments to be confident in yourself and your skills and talent. In full transparency, that was really hitting me at the beginning of this semester in some of my theatre classes. There was actually this one thing that I learned from a theatre camp I went to many years ago that one of the instructors said: “You might be pursuing a dream that’s similar to a lot of other people, but that doesn’t mean that there’s not enough space for all of you, because no one has your exact talent and story. And to not share your talent and gift with the world, is like ridding the world of beauty.” So, I think it’s our duty to share with the world what makes us passionate, happy, and joyful! Even when I’m in a room with a bunch of people that seem like they’re better versions of myself, there is only one me, and it’s up to me to be myself.

E: I love that, I was listening to a podcast and they said basically that same exact thing, that no one has your exact story, and you not sharing your talent and gift with the world is like robbing someone else of that beauty and value that you could be delivering to their life.

M: It’s so true!

Well, thank you so much for letting me ask you questions! Where can people follow you?

M: Thank you so much, it’s an honor! And my Instagram is @michelinafs!