In today’s competitive job market, many college students seek experience through internships or volunteer work. But sophomore Laura Gillespie has chosen a more unorthodox path: the strategic communications and anthropology major is touring the nation as one of the stars of Sesame Street Live.

What makes Gillespie’s choice of work even more remarkable is that she found it almost on a whim. In 2009, while working as a character at Sesame Place theme park, she attended an open audition for roles in the live show. She was thrilled to be chosen to play fairy-in-training Abby Cadabby, and soon decided to take a two-year hiatus from her studies at Temple to tour with the popular franchise.

“I feel that you should never turn down a great opportunity and never live with regrets,” she said. “Touring and performing with Sesame Street Live is not an opportunity that everyone is offered. Once I was, I couldn’t turn it down.”

Earlier this month the road that has taken Gillespie around the country and around the world led her back to Broad Street, when “Elmo’s Green Thumb” played at the Liacouras Center. For the Levittown, Pa. native, it was a homecoming in more ways than one.

“Knowing that I am in an arena not only close to home, but one that is a part of my university is very exciting,” she said. Her cheering section at the show included her parents, aunts, uncles and grandparents, as well as friends who came out to support her.

Gillespie has fond memories of growing up in the Philadelphia area, watching Sesame Street with her sister, taking trips to Sesame Place in Langhorne, and seeing Sesame Street Live at the Spectrum.

Now a part of the show herself, she enjoys bringing a beloved character to life and especially helping to educate children on the importance of going green — one of the show’s central themes.

Once “Elmo’s Green Thumb” wraps in May, Gillespie will return to Temple full time to complete her studies. While she will miss performing — and her castmates, whom she describes as family — she is excited to get back to school.

After graduation, Laura hopes earn a graduate degree in NGO management or international studies and to one day join the Peace Corp.

To date, Laura has toured the world, learning first-hand about dozens of cultures and lifestyles, and is using her down time while on the road to learn new languages.

“Finishing my education at Temple University is important,” she said. “But in the meantime I am learning so much about the world and about myself by experiencing life on the road.”

— Elizabeth DiPardo