As an actor, you come in contact with so many different people and cultures. It makes you a more accepting person.

I wish somebody would have told me, 'Don't try too hard,' because when I was younger I wanted to try really hard. I wanted to please everybody and be this perfect, polite little girl.

I had to get over a Southern accent and go through a lot of obstacles. But I love my job, and I love what I do. If it's something that your parents are pushing you into, it's never going to be rewarding.

I think it's very helpful having Twitter and all that. I mainly talk about work on Twitter. I keep my personal life separate from my work life, but I think it helps because everybody's on the Internet now - everybody has Facebook; everybody has Twitter.

Growing up in Chicago, I was a theater nerd. That might be very cool on the East Coast, but in Chicago, it's really the athletes that come in No. 1 on the cool scale. Maybe musicians after that. Community theater? That's way down the list, my friend.

I have had big relationships. Three times in my life I have felt a special connection, but people talk about looking for love as if it's just like walking into a Starbucks and buying a coffee when you feel like it. It's rare, that special connection.

Luckily I've got family and friends to keep me grounded because there are a lot of negative people around who can suck the energy out of you.

That's the beauty of education, kids taking lessons out of the classroom and back into their own world where they can positively affect their family, their friends, and their greater community.