After being involved in the International Thespian Society for all four years of high school, senior Karlie Pinder’s hard work has paid off.

Pinder has received a sizable scholarship that is able to go toward her further education.

“In the coming years I will be attending The American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York City, located in Manhattan,” Pinder said. “I received a scholarship from the Academy that covers almost half of tuition for the first year! I couldn’t be happier!”

The scholarship from the Academy was extremely selective and included several rounds of selection.

“All Missouri State Thespians were eligible to apply; the finalists were then narrowed down to four who each received $100 as a finalist prize,” Pinder said. “Out of those four, the winner was selected, and I was the winner. I won a $1,000 scholarship to any further education. It was rewarding because I knew that after all the time I had put into theater was finally going to fuel my education to further my dedication to theater.”

After receiving the scholarship, Pinder has come to a new understanding of the effect money can have upon a student’s education.

“This opportunity has made me appreciate the generosity of scholarships,” Pinder said. “If someone wants to go to college badly enough and can’t afford it financially, there are a lot of scholarship opportunities out there. I think they are incredibly important and if you do the best you can do on the applications, you can only hope for the best.”

Pinder talked about the confusing yet extremely exciting event of her first finding out about the scholarship.

“I had nearly forgotten that I was up for the scholarship. A band member stood up during Pizzazz finals and said ‘Congratulations!’ I was confused until he told me I had won the Theatre for Life Scholarship,” Pinder said. “I was overjoyed, and everyone was excited for me and congratulated me.”

Pinder said her work in the International Thespian Society has paid off.

“During my freshman year of high school, May 2010, I was inducted into The International Thespian Society. This was the best step I could have taken to becoming a better leader and shaping my future,” Pinder said. “Four years ago, I became a member and today I am a National Honor Thespian. After four years, two years as a Player, one year as vice president and this year as president, this accomplishment couldn’t get better than this.”

Pinder acknowledges she did not simply come this far in the drama overnight.  After four years of deep involvement,  Pinder is now able to give advice to younger kids who want to get involved.

“I would say that try to get involved with one or two groups or clubs within the school to be strongly committed to,” Pinder said. “You might get to know someone you might have never been friends with before and might find out that you were really talented at something you had no idea you could do before.”