[Article] Mankato Free Press

“BEYOND BLUE EARTH”

By Tanner Kent
Free Press Features Editor

The first time Makenzie tried to leave home and chase her dreams, she was 15 years old.

Allured by auditions for a theater bootcamp, the Blue Earth farm girl confidently told her mom she’d be spending the summer in New York. Mom responded by auditioning herself — and both were accepted.

The second time Makenzie left was for college, to Brigham Young’s respected Music Dance Theatre program. This time, mom allayed her concerns with the fact that Makenzie’s older sister was already at BYU and could look after her younger sister.

But the third time — when Makenzie left school to perform with Universal Studios in Japan — there wasn’t much mom could do…

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