It’s Her Chance to Act on Her College Aspirations

Ask Christa Knudsen about her upcoming performance at a college theater festival and she runs her hands nervously through her red hair but then smiles.

“I’m definitely excited,” said Knudsen, 18, but she confessed to being a bit intimidated too at the prospect of competing against college drama students.

Knudsen, a senior at Estancia High School, is one of only six high school students from Southern California chosen to compete with hundreds of college drama students for scholarships and the attention of dozens of casting agents seeking promising young actors.

“It is a phenomenal opportunity,” said Barbara Van Holt, Estancia’s drama teacher. A stellar performance at the festival would help Knudsen secure entrance to college and possibly money to attend, Van Holt said.

For Knudsen, the stakes are high. She admits that she has focused her attention on theater, often neglecting her other subjects at school. An acting scholarship is her best chance of getting into college, she said.

Van Holt said she is confident that Knudsen will catch the eye of college recruiters at the festival, which begins Thursday in Flagstaff, Ariz. In addition to acting, Knudsen has experience as a dancer, singer, choreographer and even student director for the school’s theatrical productions.

“Anything in the arts she does well,” Van Holt said. “We have not found an avenue of creativity where she has not excelled.”