Catching the Dream

Published: April 13, 2021

Five years out from her GC graduation, Lindsey Schuberth 12 has just released the comedy web series she produced and starred in: Dream Job. Lindsey plays Nicole, a daydreamer who repeatedly imagines the perfect job only to watch unexpected twists derail each daydream.

An actress living and working in L.A., Lindsey herself has plenty of dream-chasing experience, and fortunately a bit more success than her protagonist at catching them. Shes learned that even the most rewarding dreams are a mix of joy and challenges, and reaching them may require a different road than the one anticipated.

Lindsey caught the acting bug in high school and entered Greenville College with a plan. She would double major in theater and biology, use the bio degree to attend nursing school, and use nursing to pay the bills while she chased her acting dreams at night.

The plan unfolded as expected. Lindsey performed well in her biology classes and toured nursing schools. In the meantime, at the Factory Theatre, challenging shows like Rabbit Hole and Quilters pushed her to hone her craft and fostered lifelong memories. She also played four years of softball and received the Order of the Orange and Black for her athletic leadership.

In her senior year, when the hunt for nursing schools heated up, Lindsey signed up for the L.A. Film Studies Program, a one-semester study experience in Los Angeles available to GC students through the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities.

Then I went to L.A., Lindsey says, and everything changed.

Lindsey didnt arrive in L.A. dead-set on staying. Her excitement was tempered with some uncertainty; others had predicted she wouldnt like the California scene. Lindsey herself didnt have a concrete vision of her future acting career, making L.A. just one among several possibilitiesthe likeliest possibility still being the nurse-by-day, actress-by-night hybrid.

To get clarity on what she wanted, Lindsey ran an experiment. For the entire L.A. semester, she behaved exactly as if she were a professional actress seeking full-time work in the Hollywood scene, to see whether she liked the lifestyle. It meant submitting her name to every casting call she could find and responding to call-backs at the drop of a hat. This required a new type of responsibility compared to the structure and clear deadlines of college life.

Lindsey loved it. She thrived on the excitement of pursuing work. Her relationship with God thrived, too. Greenville College had challenged her to embrace and deepen her faith, and the California experience called on those reserves of faith and trust. It was the first time in my life that I felt like I had no one to lean on except for God, she remembers. I really love that I had to rely fully on Christ.

At semesters end, Lindsey cried on the ride back to the Midwest. She felt she was leaving home rather than going home. Her vision for a future acting career solidified at last: she wanted to go the traditional route of moving to Hollywood and throwing herself into screen acting full time.

Everyone back home validated her new plan. Even her biology professor Eugene Dunkley was supportive when Lindsey announced nursing school was off the docket. Dunkley was so enthused by Lindseys new plan that he, along with many others at Greenville College, promised to pray for her success.

I would not be where Im at were it not for those prayers, Lindsey says of her GC friends and professors.

Over the next five years Lindsey built a resume of acting credits in L.A., including short films and two online web series, Decently Priced and Sidework. All along, she repeatedly heard the same advice: People need to see your work and they need to see youre here for the long run.

One excellent way to increase onscreen appearances and demonstrate commitment, Lindsey realized, was to create work herself.

Lindsey contacted Sierra Glasscock, a friend from the Midwest, and invited her to collaborate on a project. Sierra cultivated ideas and came up with the Dream Job web series. Lindsey and another friend and collaborator, Kate Krassowski, produced the series, and Lindsey took on the lead role.

Dream Job playfully explores the concept of rose colored glasses via Lindseys character Nicole, an eager college graduate who expects her first job to fulfill her every career aspiration. When things dont pan out, she constructs elaborate daydreams of other dream jobs, but learns through each episode that no job is perfect.

Lindseys real life experience mirrors that of her protagonist. Lindsey loves her life path, but has learned to take the rough patches with the smooth. Actors ride an emotional rollercoaster of job leads and disappointments; people often ask Lindsey how she stays so grounded in comparison to other young actors. I know that its my faith, she replies. Every day this career is so up and down. She remains grateful for the Christlike focus taught at GC.

Lindsey chose to showcase her work on the web because it exposed her to a wide audience and the possibility of being discovered, a factor that drives artists from many genres to share their work online. At this point, its the best way for a newcomer to become known, Lindsey says.

She also formed the production studio Lightning Productions; Dream Job is its first project.

Lindsey premiered Dream Job in early December. Episodes will appear at the web site on December 23just in time to cozy up with cocoa and the computer over the Christmas holiday weekend.

For more on alumni and theater, check out:

Where the Fish Are Biting: Alumnus Finds Success In Hollywood

Curtains Up: Act Two for the Factory Theatre

For more stories of unexpected career paths, visit:

Education That Prepares For Evolution

Erin and the Amazing Technicolor Dream Job

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