Rika Ling

Highlights

• I traveled to Poland and Germany with my college choir. We went around singing in churches and got to experience a bit of European culture. I was also taking a class at the time about Catholicism and Martin Luther. I learned so much and I'm so thankful I got to experience it all with people I love.
• When I heard that the Holly Theater in Dahlonega, Georgia was putting on one of my absolute favorite musicals, "Newsies," I was beyond thrilled. At first, when I thought about auditioning, it was a bit of a joke. But at this point, I was pretty serious about getting into musical theater (thanks to "Newsies"!). It was my very first audition for a community theater and for any acting pursuit in general outside of school. Needless to say, I was pretty nervous. Ninety people were auditioning and the director said they'd have to cut people. The audio went out for a second during my song. I hadn't gotten a chance to really practice the cold reads in the lobby. And my dance audition was far from stellar.
  But in the end, I was cast! I'm incredibly grateful and humbled. To think that my first shot at professional acting would be in the very musical that inspired me to sing even more and learn how to dance. It's really such a blessing and so exciting!