Bubble Tea and Resilience with Izzy Gonzalez

Sometimes finding your calling can save your life. When Izzy Gonzalez was at a low point, she got enrolled in an acting program that changed her life for the better. We talked about her acting and her bubbly personality as she introduced me to bubble tea at Kung Fu Tea on sixth street in Campus Town.

I've heard of bubble tea, but I've never tried it. When Izzy found out that I had never had it, she was very excited to introduce it to me. Izzy is in my acting class and is one of the most energetic, happy, and bubbly people there, so it made sense that she would love something as fun as bubble tea. I'm probably the last person on earth to try it, but for those who don't know, Bubble Tea has small pearls of tapioca mixed with the drink. This was going to be my first attempt, so I had to get some suggestions from Izzy. I was thinking of a honey milk green tea, but Izzy mentioned that she had been to Curtis Orchard earlier that day, so when I saw they had an Apple Pie Slush, I just had to go with that. Izzy went with Coconut Milk Tea and we both got Boba (the tapioca bubbles) added. We also got some popcorn chicken, but the slush filled me up, so I had to bring most of the chicken home. Loved my drink. Tasted like an apple pie milkshake. So good. Now I want to check out Curtis Orchard to get some of their donuts. Mmmm.

Orchards and Pumpkin Spice announce my favorite season. I love Autumn, and Halloween is my favorite holiday. It is also the spooky season, and that goes well with Izzy's love of horror movies. It is her favorite genre. She loves John Carpenter and his classic Halloween but also loves newer movies like Scream and the Saw franchise (especially Saw X). I was surprised that someone as young as Izzy would appreciate the classics and understand the horror tropes. Yesterday, Necrosis Haunted House came up as Luke was scaring people as an actor there. Izzy lives in Rantoul, so she talked about going there on Halloween last year. That is a fun coincidence. I guess haunted houses come along with loving horror movies.

Let's step back in time a little. When Izzy was young, she got very sick and had to spend a month in a half in a hospital. She was in an induced coma so that the doctors could get her through her treatments. As a parent, I can't imagine what it must have been like for her mom and dad to have a kid having to fight for their life. Even though Izzy made it through, she still has some lasting physical effects from that experience. And it wasn't just difficult physically, the trauma of the medical crisis, the extended hospital stay and missing a lot of school also brought with it some deep depression. Things were at their roughest when they were 11 or 12 years old. With all the problems, she couldn't figure out why they were here on this earth.

It was at this low point, that Izzy's mom signed her up for a new acting program called the Penguin Project (penguinproject.org). Little did they know, but this program changed Izzy's life. The website say's that the program provides a supportive environment for children with disabilities to explore their creative talents. The kids involved were teamed up with a mentor their own age and they put on a play. Izzy was too busy to think about her depression and just kept working hard to remember her lines and get ready for her performance. When the night came and Izzy finished her first performance and took her bow at the end, so knew she had found her place. She had found her reason to be here.

Since the beginnings of that first performance, Izzy has gone on to act in several other Penguin Project productions and other local theatre productions. A few years ago, she was even nominated for a Ginny Award as an up-and-coming actor. Izzy seems to have found what makes her happy. When she is talking about acting in our conversation today, or when we are doing our acting exercises during our classes, Izzy seems to be at her most excited and happiest. Looking back on my own life, I know that acting made me feel the same way. I hope that Izzy gets to continue going down the path. She said that her dad says that she is a natural born actor, and both of her parents are very supportive of her choice to pursue acting. Having the love and support of your parents makes life so much better.

Izzy is also realistic. She knows that it is very hard to make a living solely as an actor, so he had diversified her skills in the field. She was the assistant director of the last Penguin Project production, and she has a real talent for theatrical and special effects makeup. I've included a pic of her made up as a man. She also has some pictures of herself bashed and bruised. Those were a little too realistic for me, but if you want to check out her makeup work, you can follow her on Instagram at www.instagram.com/makeupfromthe_cryptid

Thank you, Izzy for introducing me to bubble tea and for sharing part of your story with me. We will have to check out other bubble tea places in the area now that I know that I like it. I also want to thank The Penguin Project and other arts organizations who are helping our young people out there. Today's conversation is a good reminder that the Arts save lives. Please support local arts organizations in any way you can. Happy Sunday, everyone!

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