YDO KIDS | SUCCESS STORIES

Yoshi Maysonet

10 Years with YDO

Involvement: Performing Project, Journalism, Theatre, Dance, Art, YDO Summer Staff

I had gotten involved with YDO through my sister because of the programs I’ve heard about. I remember Howard sitting next to me and saying would you be interested, of course being the shy kid I was, I told him I didn’t know. I liked having fun but I also loved art, and I knew I didn’t want to be in science classes. YDO gave me the space to do things I thought I’d only ever dreamt of, I remember traveling to Boston to fire and ice and thinking wow!! This is cool!! When I felt down or I knew I didn’t want to face problems at home I looked forward to my Tuesday nights at Journalism and Wednesday acting classes. Once I was a teen and teaching, I would come into YDO just to freestyle and dance my heart out, even if I wasn’t teaching.

I have to thank Howard Sticklor for supporting me through the dreams I had and for taking me to classes, feeding me dance knowing we were trying to just figure it out together. Thanking Nelly Alba for being my big sister through it all and giving me a home. Thank you to Mark and Deirdre for consistently supporting me through my journey out in NYC, I couldn’t have done it without their help!