One walks through the doors, takes a seat, and then the lights begin to dim. They hear a voiceover welcoming and thanking the audience for coming. The curtains open, the viewers wait in anticipation, and then, they see her.
“Who’s the new girl?”
The first semester had already started when Kylie Carter, a senior, came fashionably late. Coming into a new school as a senior was undeniably hard, but this New York transplant was no stranger to moving.
Kylie came from the Big Apple to the Windy City this year, but New York is not her hometown: she was born and raised in Little Rock, Arkansas. Arkansas is where Kylie lived with her mom and dad for the majority of her life. This is also where one of her best friends, Kylia Pastor, lives.
“My friend from [my] hometown. I miss her. I haven’t seen her in like seven years,” Kylie said.
Then, when she was around 13, she moved with her dad to New York and lived there for four years. Kylie would describe her relationship with her dad as “not the best.” When she lived in New York, they lived in a one-bedroom apartment, where her dad took the room and she slept on the couch.
Living far from her mom was difficult for them both.
“I believe it made our relationship stronger in the end because we talked a lot, almost every day, and it honestly forced me to let her grow on her own independently,” Kylie’s mom, Alise Carter, said.
Earlier this year, Kylie moved in with her mom and stepdad; the decision came about because Kylie missed her mom and felt that moving was the best for her. Often, the stereotype is that kids and their step-parents do not get along, but Kylie has broken that stereotype.
“Coming in as a senior is always hard, but Kylie jumped in and wanted to get involved. She brought great energy to our program, especially with her amazing and infectious laugh. It just made everything brighter,” WEGO Drama Director Mark Begovich said.
Still, moving around so much and leaving her friends behind, left an impact on Kylie, as well as her friends. Pastor was particularly impacted. They spent much of their time together in the school’s drama program, meaning most was spent at rehearsals. Although Kylie’s move was sad because they missed each other, it also made each other better.
“Kylie moving forced me to be a lot more social,” Pastor said.
The move ended up being a positive one, however; Kylie found herself making friends wherever she went – though none as special as Pastor – and was open to new experiences.
The West Chicago community also made it easy for Kylie to make this latest move. In school she was welcomed, and even got the chance to keep doing what she did at her other schools which was being in drama. The people in WeGo Drama welcomed Kylie openly.
“I think that she was very funny, she made me laugh all the time,” sophomore Milly Marco-Zora said. Marco-Zora had the honor to perform with Carter during her time with the drama program.
Although Kylie Carter was only at WEGO for a short period of time, her laugh will linger on the stage after making an impact on those around her, and will be missed.
