thanksgiving break

This thanksgiving break has been pretty relaxing, however with only about 2 days left I find myself in a crunch for time. I always do this. I always leave things for the last minute. I eventually get what I need to get done, done but still it is rather annoying.
I just finished reading Time Magazine’s “The Middle East” in preparation for my one woman show. And in about a half hour-to an hour I will start memorizing my lines. I’m starting to get really nervous since I perform next month-January 6 or 7th and my acting teacher wants the one act class to have our lines memorized by the time we go back to school on Monday. Once again I really wish I hadn’t left this for the last minute, but what can I do, but try my hardest. I know I can get these lines memorized, I am actually really good at memorization, so I just need to buckle down and really focus I will be working on memorization for four or five hours today and tomorrow I will dedicate most of the day to memorization with 2-5 hours dedicated to common app. And Sunday will be dedicated to college applications but I still plan on working for another 2 or 3 hours on memorization.
I am really glad that I am doing this one act entitled, “My name is Rachel Corrie” as soon as my acting teacher mentioned the play to the class I feel in love with it. The play is about a human rights activist, named Rachel Corrie who was killed in 2003 trying to defend a Palestinian house from being destroyed by an Israeli bulldozer. The play is based on notes, emails, and journal entries that Rachel left behind, so the reader/audience really gets to know who Rachel Corrie is and what drove her to risk and ultimately lose her life in a country half-way across the world. I relate a lot to Rachel Corrie, I relate to her restlessness and her desire to do something to help those who are victims of a political process beyond their control. I emphasize with her feelings of worthlessness, because there are times during the play where she struggles with whether what she does is actually making a difference. I relate to her frustrations over the disregard for human life that so many people have, especially those in positions of power. What really inspires me is that Rachel Corrie was a normal young adult. She didn’t come from an extremely wealthy family and from what I could tell she didn’t have any famous friends or family members. She was a “normal” young girl who wanted to make a difference but I guess what makes her not normal is the fact that she actually did what she said she wanted to do. She actually packed up and traveled half-way across the world to make a difference. Would you do that? Would I do that?
Of course not everyone sees her as an admirable figure. Some people see her as a perfect example of American stupidity- an example of someone trying to get involved in the problems of other nations. (Even though the U.S. has contributed a lot to the problems in the Middle East…) Others see her as being brain washed by the Palestinians. It always shocks me how cruel people can be. Some people have even said that she deserved to die. How can you hate someone, especially someone you do not know, so much, that you want them dead? But I am sure Rachel Corrie knew people wouldn’t approve of her decisions but she still fought for what she believed in and there are people who hate her for it. But for others her story serves as an inspiration and I am honored to be portraying her for my One Act Plays class.