It’s officially college application season. For most, this means stressing over writing a personal statement and supplemental essays throughout the fall. On average, most students are applying to around 8-12 colleges, submitting applications in the winter, and choosing to avoid thinking about college again until their decisions come in—I am not most students.

If you don’t know me well… hi! I’m Layla Valenzuela, and I’m hoping to pursue a degree in Musical Theatre. This means that I am going through the traditional college application process AND auditioning for schools individually through March 2023. This year, I will be both applying and/or auditioning for 24 colleges. Now, you may be thinking, “Layla, you’re crazy,” to which I respond, yes, I am. But Musical Theatre (and just art in general) is my passion, and I’m willing to do everything that it takes to pursue it.

One of the first steps in my college audition journey was filming my pre-screens. To those not familiar with the college audition terms, many schools require the applicant to submit a series of videos showcasing your talents before they consider granting you an in-person or virtual audition.

Due to a series of unfortunate delays, I was unable to film my pre-screens with my college audition counselor in Orange County, and I decided to fly to Sacramento to film them instead. Here is a condensed version of the crazy day that was Sept. 16, 2022.

5 a.m.

My alarm clock jolts me awake. I roll out of bed and onto the floor, where I army-crawl to my closet to get dressed for the day. Because it was a Friday, my brother still had school, and my mom and I had to drop him off at his school library at six in the morning (sorry Nick). We grabbed our luggage —which contained my filming outfits and hair/makeup kit—and hit the road. On the way, I mentally prepared myself by listening to Spotify’s “The Essential Stephen Sondheim” playlist while watching the sun rise over the freeway horizon.

7 a.m.

My mom and I arrive at the Hollywood Burbank Airport. I had never been to this particular airport before, and I actually enjoyed the experience! It was extremely small and even more so easy to get to our boarding gate. I plopped onto a seat and pulled out my laptop to edit my article from last week until it was time to board.

8:40 a.m.

Takeoff. We had a good flight, I got the window seat, and my mom had the aisle seat. Luckily, the flight was fairly empty, and I got to recline, review my pre-screen material, and re-watch “Knives Out” comfortably. There was a lady in front of me celebrating her bachelorette party, and the flight crew made her a veil out of snack mix packages and toilet paper, no joke.

10 a.m. (ish)

We landed! The Sacramento pick-up area was kind of confusing, and my mom and I got a bit lost while trying to find my aunt’s car. Lucky for us, my aunt lives near Sacramento and was able to pick us up to drive us to my filming location. I desperately needed three things:

1. Food. I hadn’t eaten since around 5:30 a.m. and yearned for sustenance to fuel my performances.
2. Tea. I was recovering from some vocal exhaustion and needed warm tea to soothe my throat.
3. Wi-Fi. Because our school laptops don’t connect to phone hotspots anymore, I needed to find a bookstore or coffeeshop with Wi-Fi to steal in order to edit my Royal Reporter article.

11 a.m. 

My mom, aunt, and I made one pit stop on the way to my filming location: Barnes & Noble. It had everything that I needed. While I rushed inside to connect to the free Wi-Fi, my mom and aunt got in line for the Starbucks inside. Within 20 minutes, we were back on the road with a completed article, an Impossible breakfast sandwich, and a Venti Medicine Ball Tea.

11:30 a.m.

We arrived at the Hilton hotel I was filming at. My college audition coach got a hotel room and set up filming there. But I was still in my airport outfit (a.k.a. an old t-shirt and sweatpants) with my hair and makeup both not done. It was scrambling time.

I quickly curled my hair and put on makeup while my mom set up a makeshift ironing station on the lobby bathroom counter (after disinfecting, of course). Together, we made a pretty great team and were ready to meet my coach, Drew, in the lobby on time.

12:20 p.m.

Filming time! I don’t have many pictures from the actual session, but I filmed my videos in this order:

1. Classical Ballad
2. Contemporary Up-tempo
3. Dramatic Monologue
4. Comedic Monologue
5. Specific school questions

The whole session lasted about two hours, with my mom sitting on the couch next to me, watching me perform. My college audition coach is absolutely incredible and made me feel so comfortable while filming (check out College Audition Pros if you’re considering applying to college for musical theatre or acting!).

The rest of the day

My mom, aunt, and I went to Olive Garden and then my aunt dropped us back at the airport. My mom and I had a smooth flight home—where I was able to finish my re-watch of “Knives Out”— and take a short nap. We finished off the day with a relaxing drive home where I listened to “Harry’s House” on the freeway. Overall, it was a successful day.

If you’re interested in following my college audition journey closer, you can check out my YouTube channel where I make weekly vlogs and document my experience (Subscribe to “Layla Valenzuela” on YouTube!) But if you don’t want to (for some unfathomable reason), I’ll be writing about the monumental events here, on our very own Royal Reporter.