Dear Reader

      My fellow WISE classmates have convinced me that the most fufilling way to document my WISE project would be to blog alll about it, so here we are. For those of you that don't know, WISE projects are for seniors in their second semester to learn about anything of their choosing. We spend 16 weeks engrossing ourselves in the project and journal (or in this case, blog) about the experience and what you've learned about yourself and the world.
     For the next semester, I am learning to become a clown. Excuse me? That's really weird. Why in the world would I choose that as my project? Because I want to spend a semester doing something fun. I want to get up every day and be really excited to do my WISE project. I love to work with people, interact with them on all levels, and being a clown is another way to do this in a very positive way.
     When I interviewed Frank Towner, also known as Crossroads the Clown, he said "My mission in life is to spread joy and laughter to others." This idea really struck me. My WISE project isn't just for my benefit. If I am going to spend a semester working on a project, it should benefit others as well. And what better way to benefit them, then to make them laugh?
     My project will consist of learning to juggle, tell jokes, make balloon animals, creating my clown persona, magic tricks and much more. I want to learn to become a good performer. I've always been able to get up and talk in front of alot of people, no sweat, but I think it takes alot more to get up in front of people and be able to make them laugh. My goal is to learn to be entirely confident in myself, no be afraid to put myself out there and entertain people. I want to learn to handle my frustration when I can't figure out a new trick right away or if people don't find me funny (god forbid).
     My interest in this project came from my dad. He's been taking my family to every magic, juggling and joke show in the Ithaca area for as long as I can remember. He suggested for my project that I learn to juggle. But since I have 16 weeks to learn I decided to broaden my project from just juggling to the whole range of entertainement, and become a clown.
     By the end of the project I hope to be able to visit local elementary schools, the hosptial and local carnivals and perform there. I want to clown as much as possible and entertain people to the best of my ability. If I'm putting in the effort to research and learn I want to be able to showcase my new abilties as often as possible. I'm very excited to start the second semester, and I'm thrilled you've decided to follow my journey! Keep on the look out for future updates.....