Cup of Coffee helps fund College Tuition

A very dear friend suggested that I use this forum to help my dream come true. Even though on paper this all makes sense it is still one of the hardest and most humbling things I have ever had to do: ask complete strangers to help me attend one of the most prestigious Theater schools in the United States, Carnegie Mellon University School of Drama.

Hi, my name is Christopher Essex and I am 18 years old. For those of you who don’t know me I would like to tell you a little bit about my life.

At the age of 4, I saw my first professional performance of "The Music Man." During the iconic number "Seventy-Six Trombones," I stood up in my seat, began to march in place, and proceeded to sing along with the actors. I believe that was a pivotal moment that changed my life forever... and brought me to this very day and time. This calling never waned; I have always performed in some capacity, whether through various choral groups, to children's theater, singing for children in hospitals and musical theater all throughout middle school and high school years. This has now evolved to my current effort in pursuing my BFA degree in Musical Theater, which will give me the tools to further my goal of performing on Broadway.

The process of getting accepted into a Musical Theater program at any university is insurmountable with approximately 15 to 20 new freshmen being accepted each into each school per year. Well, I just found out I was accepted into Carnegie Mellon University School of Drama. However, to attend this program is costly. I am taking out every loan that is possible, but unfortunately are still short $7,500.00 per year. Therefore, I need to raise the additional funds.

With that being said, I would like to explain why money is so tight for me. My Mom is a single parent who has raised me, solely on her own. She is probably one of the best mothers that anyone could hope for and over the years has taught me to be a man of virtue. She just recently acquired her associate’s degree in nursing and has incurred her own student debt. So on top of being fairly new to the business and raising a son, money is limited. But even as limited as money is for us my mom said to me, “Somehow, someway, we can make this happen. Do you believe that you can do this; do you believe in yourself”. So here is me believing in myself and making this happen ‘somehow, someway’.

At first I was a little skeptical that something like this could work, but then my friend reminded me, “All it takes is a cup of coffee”… about 5 dollars! If everyone that saw my post gave up one cup of coffee and donated 5 dollars I would be able to fulfill my dream of attending Carnegie Mellon University.

For those of you who do know me… Friends, family and loved ones; know that I am so grateful for you! I promise that I will pay this forward someday and I will never forget all you have done and continue to do; because it is all of you who have helped shape me to the man I am today and will become in the future. I realize opportunities such as this do not come often. So I am reaching out and hoping and praying that others will help me achieve this dream. Please help me!

Thank you very kindly in advance for your support. Please feel free to share this site with others (help me make this viral) and if nothing more hopefully you enjoy listening to my videos.

I would like to leave you with a statement my grandpa told me,

“God gave you the gift of life, it is what you do with your life that is your gift to god”.

God Bless
Christopher James Essex



I raised over $20,000.00 for Broadway Cares Equity Fights Aids in the last 3 years ... the video above is is just one of the shows where money was donated.