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Eye Color: hazel/green
Photo Credits: Kylene Cleaver
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Derek Nickerson  |
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Derek Nickerson
To start things off I'd like to say that I've come a long way to get where I am now. Life is definitely full of challenges, it's not about the cards you were dealt, but rather how you play them. For me, I had no royal flush, but you can not be let down right away. My mother always told me to keep my head up high no matter what and persevere to achieve your goals. It all started in a small town of Westville, NJ, where I was conceived by two very young parents fresh out of high school who lived life one step at a time. You could say growing up was a bit unique for me after the age of seven because I had the tendency to relocate a lot and pops was not even in the army. We typically call this a broken home; my parents divorced and parted ways. At the time my brother and I were like ping pong balls, bouncing back and forth between parents. This little number went on for about 2…3…4…6….9…10 years. I had the workaholic mommy and the weekend daddy. Schooling is an interesting topic; I can honestly say I've been to ten different schools (not including the three colleges I've also attended), meeting different, fun and unique people all the time. As a actor it has helped me grow in understanding people in general and in all aspects. I've got the 360 degree view for portraying different personalities and acting out different situations. Some say I should have gone to school to be a psychologist because if you know me, you probably have come to me for advice at one time or another. If you ever seen the movie “Hitch”, starring Will Smith, I am somewhat like Alex Hitchens if you get my drift. Unfortunately I am better at giving advice then using it myself. Throughout high school I was a bit of a dork. Somewhat quiet, but I had my moments. Sports were definitely my calling in high school. I tried being the whole meathead, going to the gym everyday and playing football, but after two years it didn't quite work out the way I saw it. Track & Field fell in my lap. I ran during the winter and spring competitively, and have a box full of medals at home to prove my earnings. On the flip side my dorkiness showed me I'm quite the singer and performer. What a shame it took until my senior year of high school to realize I had any talent. I earned a part as the understudy lead and a secondary lead in the “Pirates of Penzance” spring musical, performing quite well with the singing, acting, and choreography. Only reason why I never made the lead part was because the lead who earned the spot was an All-National Choir Singer and not to mention a musical genius, kind of hard to keep up with someone like that when you just got started in performing arts field. After high school, I made an attempt at college. I'm pretty sure being declared “party animal” is not the best way to earn descent grades. I had a mixed focus with my priorities, I feel as if I have so many things I could be good at that I have branched my thoughts too thin to make a distinctive choice. So as a procrastinator I took the easy way out, barely went to school, worked a bit, and partied hard to forget about responsibilities. Now there is definitely nothing wrong with partying, but it's a good idea to actually not be hung over for class the next morning, let alone show up. Some people are more cautious than I, and then there are some who learn the hard way. There is a breaking point in this mini story, I'm getting there don't worry. It took two years of college to finally smack me in the head and realize that I've got to do something in my life if I want to get anywhere at all.
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