why'd i pick these shoes, why'd i pick this song, why'd i pick this career, whyyyy?

Here's my first college paper. I would very much appreciate feedback, because, quite frankly, I think it's the worst paper I've ever written.

Melanie Ziems
Acting I
“What is Acting to Me?”
September 5th, 2007

Thornton Wilder once said, "I regard the theatre as the greatest of all art forms, the most immediate way in which a human being can share with another the sense of what it is to be a human being." To me, acting is our most incredible venue to share experience, magnify emotion, and portray lessons for not only our fellow human beings, but for ourselves. Acting is freedom; freedom to let go of your personal convictions and adopt a completely new personality, freedom to think outside your own mind for a change, freedom to resist personal limitations and commit to an outside soul. Acting is adrenaline; the lights, the costumes, the hush falling over a fidgety audience of either five or five thousand. Acting is one of the most personal ways of looking deep into one’s soul and, by doing so, being able to touch others and bring a little bit of magic to their lives.
To me, acting is a deeply personal and emotionally trying entity with practically a life of its own. Acting requires so much of your physical and mental attention; I have always felt that after a good, honest performance, you should feel absolutely exhausted and drained. Acting is practically a workout; you are taking on physicalities of a person who may or may not have any similarities to your natural presence. For even the smallest of chorus members, every second on stage requires mental focus and attention. I once played a mute in Tony Kushner’s The Illusion, and I was on stage the entire time, watching the play unfold. It was one of the most difficult roles of my life, having to stay focused on a play I had seen hundreds of times in rehearsals without many lines to look forward to. I find that it is important for young actors to understand that acting is not just a physical or vocal exercise – merely mimicking does not a good actor make. Rather, becoming the character one is portraying creates a much more honest, solid performance.
I remember the first play that ever touched me. I was fourteen and needed to see a show for a play report in my high school theatre class, so my mom took me downtown to see a traveling production of Hair. I can hardly even remember the premise of the show, and my mom covered my eyes in the scene where everyone disrobed, but what I do remember acutely is the way when I looked at the principles on stage, my heart fluttered. It was like watching a scene out of history in real life. These weren’t people like you and me, they were hippies from the 1960’s and they were protesting war and practicing free love. That is what acting is to me – acting is truly being someone else. It’s like a really good movie; you forget that you are watching actors and begin to feel like you are looking into some time capsule and watching the past, or the future, or someone else’s real life.
My hope is that, as an actress, I can touch someone else the way theatre touches me. We act about many different things: some plays focus on magic and the unreal; others, political tribulations; still others, loves both lost and found. Regardless, every play has an underlying, universal theme, true to everyone involved. Acting is the one avenue to transport the playwright’s ideas from the paper into the souls of the audience, and that is the most important job of an actor.
In a more personal sense of the prompt, to me, acting is an outlet. It is an absolutely acceptable way to vent frustrations, and to do so is actually encouraged. It is a healthy expression of the typical teenage pent-up emotion. It is a challenge and a risk, and a highly rewarding hobby. It is my passion and my trade. It is my niche in life. It is the single biggest creator of joy and agony in my life. It is my love and my best friend. It is my enemy. I can thank acting for many things, but, most importantly, for making me the outgoing, confident person I am today. I have found my calling in the theatre, and, with the help of acting, have answered that calling proudly.
The greatest thing about acting is that while it may be all of these things to me, to anyone else, it could be none. It could be all. It could be anywhere in between. Acting is absolutely subjective and a burning ball of energy able to transform into anything anyone could want. So, what is acting to me? Here is a better question: What is acting to you?