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I was always Missy, never Melissa. I went to college, and I thought it was so much more interesting to go by a different name, and then it just kind of stuck.

I've got a golf scholarship for school, so they understand if I'm away. A couple of years ago they called to see why I wasn't at school, and now they're like, 'oh, she's at golf.' Sometimes I'm in class and sometimes the teachers don't realize I'm there. She goes, 'oh, Lydia's absent.' And I'm like 'no, actually, I'm here.'

My high-school a cappella teacher would embarrass me in front of the choir. 'Mavis, you're in the basement. Mavis, you're singing with the boys.' I said, 'Mr. Finch, my voice isn't soprano. I can't sing up there with the girls.' So I just got out of the choir.

I wrote 'Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret' right out of my own experiences and my own feelings when I was in sixth grade.

I remember teachers who really singled me out for their discouragement.

I taught Sandra Bullock when no one knew who she was. I talked her out of quitting. I put her in a showcase.

There's a film I did called 'Front of the Class', about a teacher who had Tourette's. That was a beautiful blend of drama and comedy. There's some great moments of levity in the script.

I was the kid at six who was like, 'I want to be in a jazz club.' I was never the pop kid, ever. I mean that's not true, I had a couple years where I wanted to be Tiffany and Debbie Gibson, but aside from that, no.

I went to a performance-art high school, and a teacher there was signing me up for open-mic nights at the comedy club. I think about it now, and I think, 'Well, that may be inappropriate,' but it was great!'