Happy New Year from NYC (and just letting you know, I have not forgotten you)!

To all My ASDS Fund supporters and anyone who has helped me on this journey in any way, I just wanted to say::

Ignore what I just said- Dyson International Scholarship renewed, so only $25,000 to go!

Dear My ASDS Fund supporters, 

I am pleased to share that based on my results from Year 1, Pace University has renewed my generous Dyson Endowed Scholarship for International Students for my 2nd year!

I am now only $25,000 away from reaching the full amount that I need for fees and expenses to complete my course and see me through to graduation from the Actors Studio Drama School in 2014. I am keeping my fingers crossed that I get more jobs such as my current Olympics gig to help me earn this amount, but in the meantime please do send any scholarship recommendations you may have my way, and help me spread the word in any way you can.

Thank you all for your continued support, without which this journey could never have taken off!

Love and gratitude,

Sam Tan

Hello from the Olympic City/ $35,000 to go!

Dear My ASDS Fund supporters,

HELLO FROM LONDON, where in about 16 hours the lights go up on the 2012 Olympics Opening Ceremony!For those of you going “Wait, London? What happened to acting school in New York?”, don’t worry- the ASDS dream is still going as planned and I have not flunked out and wasted all your support! 🙂 SORRY for not updating this blog with news of my goings-on earlier, here’s the rundown in a nutshell.

I successfully completed my first year at the Actors Studio Drama School in May- a wonderful, thrilling, life-changing eight months- and by some stroke of terrific fortune I was then offered a job to dance at the London Olympics Closing Ceremony in my summer break! The timing could not be more perfect, and I am extra grateful for being one of a select pool of dancers who got hired without an audition. I had the privilege of working with Kim Gavin, the visionary Artistic Director of the Closing Ceremony as well as his assistant choreographer Gareth Walker in the past, and it is them I have to thank for booking me this gig based on trust and previous experience. So thank you Kim, and thank you Gareth! I was fully prepared to stay in NYC waiting tables to save up for the upcoming Year 2, but needless to say this is a waaaay better summer job which will go a lot further in helping me pay my fees:) 

Speaking of fees, you probably want to know (since this is a fundraising site after all!) where we’re at with the money.

As it stands, the first year has gone swimmingly thanks to multiple scholarships and your generous donations, but I still have approximately $35,000 to raise for the next 2 years (inflation and the annual hiking of fees by Pace notwithstanding). My fingers are crossed that my scholarships will keep renewing and I am doing my utmost to dance, cook and act my way to achieving this amount, but if any lovely person, scholarship fund or corporate foundation out there wants to help, please click that Paypal knob in the top right hand corner or get in touch at myasdsfund@gmail.com.  As I’ve said many times, I happily take cash, kind, tweets, Facebook likes/shares/status updates or general hellos in a good-natured fashion 🙂

Don’t forget I ALSO can feed you in return for help, so if anyone needs a caterer or wants to buy a cake do swing by Sam Tan’s Kitchen at http://www.bakecookeat.blogspot.com.

In the meantime, do enjoy the 2012 Olympics Opening wherever in the world you happen to be- I watched the dressed rehearsal on Wednesday and the world is in for a truly spectacular show! 🙂 The Closing Ceremony I am currently rehearsing for takes place August 12th, so do keep your eyes glued to the TV for that too- not because you’ll spot me, because it’s unlikely you will, but because it promises to be a grand celebration of British music and culture. I will then fly back to NYC on September 2nd, ready to go with Year II on September 4th!

Thank you once again to everyone who has ever supported this site and my efforts- please know that although the intensity of the ASDS life and the need to work for survival means I rarely have time to blog, I have not forgotten you and the huge role you have all played in quite literally changing my life.

Much love and Olympic spirit,

Sam

My ASDS Fund Featured In The Star – R.AGE

Samantha Tan discusses fundraising in the digital age with The Star’s R.AGE reporter Nasa Maria Entaban.

You can read the full interview HERE

Posted by Ari the Social Media Gremlin

Belated Greetings from NYC!

Dear ASDS Fund supporters,

I am SO sorry it has taken me a month to do this, but HELLO FROM NEW YORK!

After a long and agonising wait for all my necessary documentation and funding to get sorted, I ended up leaving London in a frantic whirlwind on Sept 11th 2011, exactly seven years to the day since I left Malaysia for the UK on Sept 11th 2004. I guess the old saying about life progressing in seven-year cycles is true! Everything fell into place in an abrupt flurry hence the lack of blog updates:  it was a Friday afternoon when my visa was approved just as we were moving out of our flat (literally- I was sitting in our corridor with our packed bags when I got the phone call), and by Sunday morning I was at Heathrow airport bidding a painful and teary goodbye to the country that had become my second home and my fiancé, who is responsible not only for selflessly encouraging me to audition for the ASDS in the first place but for helping me create and maintain this fundraising site.

The  irony of flying on the 10th anniversary of 9/11 into the very city where it took place is not lost on me-  that and the fact that a good friend’s roommate just happened to be moving out roughly the time I was arriving (hence freeing up her room for me to rent) makes me believe that this entire adventure was truly meant to be. To this day I cannot believe I am actually HERE, and it is the absolute truth when I say none of this would have been possible without every single one of you who have supported this site. Be it through dollars, newspaper columns, tweets, Facebook links, comments or supportive emails, I hope all of you realise just how big a role you have played in helping me to raise 70% of what I needed to make this opportunity a reality.

The battle is not yet over however- the remaining 30% required for the 2nd and 3rd year’s expenses is still a work in progress, and though it is not generally recommended (due to the strenuous hours of the course) I have applied for on-campus jobs in the hopes that I can earn the rest of what I need. It is unfortunately proving tough as most positions were filled before I even knew I was coming here, so until I get some kind of paying job the site will remain open to contributions. Nonetheless, I am positive it will all work out now that I am here and not fighting against the clock as much- once I suss out how to set up my baking/catering business here as well as provide private Pilates classes WITHOUT breaking US immigration law, things should be fine. In the meantime, I thought it would be nice to say hello so you don’t think I’ve forgotten you, and to update you a little on what life has been like in the past five weeks 🙂

WORKING YOUR BUTT OFF, BEING ON TIME AND OTHER IMPORTANT STUFF

The Actors Studio Drama School so far has been everything I could have hoped for and more: it is intense and hardcore in line with its notorious reputation, and every class exhausts and challenges you either intellectually, emotionally or physically. Above all however, it is utterly inspiring, and I am awed and humbled on a daily basis by the sheer experience and depth of knowledge that my teachers possess. There is nothing like being immersed completely in the company of like-minded artists all of whom share and understand your passion and seriousness in developing your craft, and I can only hope that beyond graduation I stand a chance of being accepted into the Actor’s Studio itself so that I can continue this practice with my peers for the rest of my career. The past month has already taught me more than any experience I have had so far, and I find myself excitedly scribbling pages of notes furiously so that I may one day repeat all that I am getting to Malaysians. I promise I will eventually, and I hope you will be patient with me as I concentrate on being a sponge and absorbing all I can.

Self-discipline and the establishment of good professional habits is the name of the game here, and one fantastic rule (particularly relevant to Malaysians!) is the ASDS’s uncompromising stand on punctuality.  The classroom/studio doors are locked at 0900 sharp if you have a 9am class- arrive at 9.01 or any later and you have to scribble your name on a piece of paper along with your time of arrival and slide it under the door. You then may or may not be allowed in at the teacher’s discretion when/if they spot the note. Two latenesses counts as an absence, two absences downgrades your mark by a half point (A+ becomes A-, A- becomes B+ etc) and once you hit B-, any scholarships you hold are potentially revoked and you risk being kicked off the course!

What a terrific idea- needless to say this zero-tolerance policy REALLY WORKS, and as a result I have been on time if not early for every single class. It is simply the best way of separating the ones who take it seriously from the ones who don’t, and should I ever set up a school or programme in future I fully intend to implement something similar.

I cannot wait to share more about what I have learnt so far, but for now it is time to get back to homework- this weekend it is transcribing mid-vowels using the International Phonetic Alphabet (for Neutral American Speech class, which will move on later into different accents), reading Chapter II of Lee Strasberg’s A Dream of Passion  and analysing Aristophanes’ Lysistrata for Theatre History tomorrow (we are currently learning about ancient Greek drama in order to understand the origins of acting and theatre). That and of course the mandatory daily actor’s journal, where we record things we notice about ourselves and others to help us develop the keen observation skills and attention to detail needed to play different characters. Fascinating stuff.

I am tired but happy, busy but inspired, excited for all that is to come and above all, grateful- thank you all for helping me on my way!

$105,000 raised and counting!

Dear friends,

Just a quick update to say that with the help of this site and the scholarships, corporate sponsors as well as individual contributions that have come as a result, My ASDS Fund has now hit six figures with over $105,000 raised in the past few weeks!

Needless to say this is absolutely beyond anything I could have envisioned, and I owe it all not just to those who have clicked “Donate” or ordered a cake through my bake sale but also everyone who took the trouble to tweet and Facebook on my behalf, as well as of course R.Nadeswaran (who himself found out through the power of Twitter) for dedicating his widely-read Citizen Nades column in The Sun Daily to this 2 weeks ago.

Unbelievably we are now over 70% of the way there, and I could not feel more thankful and blessed at the support and encouragement I have received. There is still a little bit to go, but once the target of $150,000 is achieved all Paypal buttons will be disabled and removed to prevent raising more than I need (a delightful problem I never thought I’d had to face!).

Once again, THANK YOU!

x

Sam

Dyson Endowed International Scholarship Received!

Dear My ASDS Fund supporters,

With three weeks left to go before the first day at the ASDS begins, I have just received TERRIFIC news that Pace University has awarded me a substantial scholarship for international students which, combined with the other grants already received, means I have managed to raise my  tuition fees for 2011/2012 (as well as a large chunk of most of the other two years)!

 This page will therefore focus on raising the living expenses I still need. Thank you all so much for your support, I am eternally grateful!