Last night, I had the incredible honor of being inducted into the inaugural class of the Carle Place Fine Arts Hall of Fame. To stand alongside my brother John, an amazing talent, and so many others who helped shape the creative heart of Carle Place was both humbling and deeply meaningful.
My path to the stage wasn’t always smooth. I spent my extracurricular high school hours juggling jobs at a couple of different restaurants and running cross-country — all which kept me racing from shifts to rehearsals, sometimes stepping onto the stage still in uniform. But it never felt like a burden. It felt like a commitment to something bigger than myself. I loved every minute of it.
As my brother John and I ascended the steps to the stage last night, I turned to him and said, “You know, I don’t think we’ve ever been on stage at the same time before.” Being six years apart, our paths never crossed that way in high school. I told him: this is a big moment — for you. (I said that jokingly, of course — but there’s some truth to it, too.)
The arts have never just been about performance. They’re about community, connection, and the relationships that shape who we become. Nights like last night awaken something powerful — a vivid reminder of who we were, and how those moments helped us become who we are. They allowed us to continue talks with friends that we didn’t even know we needed to continue. To step outside ourselves and relive what felt like a frozen moment in time and embrace the nostalgia.
To any student reading this: say yes to the arts. Rehearse when you’re tired. Show up when it’s inconvenient. Because the friendships you build and the confidence you gain will outlast the final curtain call.
