Juilliard School

Juilliard School is identified in the novel as an institution in New York City whose artistic mission makes it the focus of Bailey Walker’s ambitions. It represents both her intended path as an actress and a dream that remains significant after she is rejected.

Identity and Mission

Lennie Walker describes Juilliard School as being in New York City and recalls looking up its mission statement online. The statement describes an education for gifted musicians, dancers, and actors from around the world, intended to help them reach their fullest potential as artists, leaders, and global citizens. This is the extent of the institution’s profile in the evidence: it is defined through its stated artistic purpose and the importance Bailey assigns to it.

Bailey’s Ambition

Bailey announces that she is going to Juilliard, and Gram playfully calls her Miss Hollywood, or Miss Broadway. The exchange links Bailey’s acting ambitions to the school before the sisters’ conversation moves on. Lennie remembers hoping that Juilliard would be close enough for her to visit Bailey every day by bicycle, revealing how she had imagined the school not only as Bailey’s destination but as a place that would keep the sisters near one another.

Rejection and Narrative Significance

After Juilliard rejects Bailey, she enrolls at Clover State, the only other college to which she applied. Lennie remains certain Bailey will apply again because Juilliard is her dream. The school therefore marks the distance between Bailey’s aspiration and her immediate circumstances, while also showing how closely Lennie’s hopes for her own daily life were bound to Bailey’s plans.