Erin Barlow '13 Sets Off for Prestigious UCLA Theatre & Film School

Fate works in mysterious ways.

 

When Erin Barlow came to Rivers, she was a highly touted hockey prospect.

 

"It was all I wanted to do," she said, "and I hoped to go to college for it."

 

Yet here we are, three years later, and she is headed to UCLA—not on a hockey scholarship, but as one of the few students admitted to the prestigious School of Theatre, Film and Television.

 

So how did that happen?

 

During Barlow's junior season at Rivers, she suffered three concussions on the ice, the last of which kept her out of school for several months. She made the decision to repeat her junior year, and when she finally returned to campus, she had to make the tough decision about whether or not to continue playing hockey.

 

"I had always done theater in the background as a replacement for my fall sport," Barlow said, "and after getting knocked down and all that, I thought maybe I should try this new outlet and see how that goes."

 

Put simply: It went well.

 

For Barlow, the next two years were a whirlwind of theater productions and acting classes. With every completed scene, she became more and more certain that acting was her true passion.

 

The summer after her second junior year, Barlow went out on a limb and auditioned for the Vassar Powerhouse Theater Apprentice Program in Poughkeepsie, N.Y. For six weeks each summer, the ultra-competitive program offers classes such as acting, composition, and text analysis, as well as several theater productions and the opportunity to work with professional actors. But it isn't easy: Students are expected to work from 9 a.m. until 11 p.m. every day.

 

Barlow was accepted into the program. And rather than be intimidated by the long days or the talented instructors, she was inspired.

 

"By the end, I knew that this is exactly what I wanted to do," she said. "It didn't feel like work at all."

 

At the end of the summer, Barlow officially made the decision to pursue a degree in theater or acting, and she began applying to colleges with stellar acting curricula, including Pace University, New York University, and UCLA. The audition process was grueling, nerve-wracking, and—for Barlow—exhilarating.

 

"My first audition was in Texas," she said. "It was just me in a room with seven or eight people just staring at me. I was trying so hard not to shake. It was nerve-wracking, but by the end of audition season, I had done so many in a short period of time that I was like, OK, I got this."

 

Her training on the ice also helped with her nerves: The intensity of an audition perfectly mirrored the intensity of a game day.

 

"I treated all my auditions like an away game," she said.

 

Preparation for the auditions was key, and Barlow credits Rivers drama teacher Juliet Bailey with ensuring that she was ready for what awaited her. The two worked tirelessly, long after school hours, practicing her three audition monologues: one from I Learned to Drive by Paul Vogel, one from William Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, and one original piece Barlow composed herself.

 

UCLA, it turned out, was the only school interested in seeing her perform her own composition.

 

"At the end of the audition, the guy asked me if I had anything else prepared,” she said. “And I said, 'Actually, I do--I have a piece that I wrote.'"

 

The monologue, as Barlow describes it, is a "gritty, intense" portrait of a 19-year-old Southie girl, "inspired by The Departed and The Town." Not only did it give her an opportunity to show off her own writing chops, but it gave her an opportunity to show off her best crack at a Boston accent.

 

And it worked.

 

"I think that was the big thing that helped me get in," she said.

 

Barlow was one of just 60 students accepted into UCLA's Theatre, Film and Television program. In total, she applied to 18 schools, but once she got her electronic acceptance letter from UCLA, the decision was made.

 

"It was the only school where I told my dad, 'I can't see myself going anywhere else'—and that was before I got in," she said.

 

Strangely enough, Barlow's acceptance letter went into the Spam folder of her email account—a folder that she rarely opens, if ever. Fate, working mysteriously again.

 

"I don't know why I looked in it on that one random day," she said. "But it was there. I logged in, and it said, 'Congratulations!' across the top, and I just started crying. I thought, 'Hands down, this is where I want to go.'"

 

Of course, the rigorous program will present its own host of challenges, but Barlow is prepared for those. During an information session on campus in the fall, a presenter warned prospective students that if they missed a single class, their grades would automatically drop by one full letter.

 

That doesn't scare Barlow—nor does moving across the country for the first time in her life, or being apart from her family and friends. "I'm so ready for a change and to get out and do something different," she said. "It's so exciting."

 

Five years from now, in Barlow's perfect world, she will be launching a successful career in film or television. She mentions Parks and Recreation as the type of show she would love to be a part of. But just like in the world of sports, she understands that the acting world is one that is both cutthroat and competitive, and that nothing is guaranteed. She acknowledges that longevity is a rarity in Hollywood, but she hopes that with hard work and the right attitude, she can be one of the exceptions.

 

"Hopefully, I'll have a long-lasting career," she said.

 

And while she is relishing the sunshine in the warm weather in Los Angeles, she certainly won't be longing for the days she spent inside a frosty ice hockey rink.

 

"Lacing up the skates feels so wrong now," she said. "I love watching the Bruins and watching hockey, but this is such a better alternative for me. I can't imagine doing anything else."