Arija Bareikis was born on 21 July 1966 in Bloomington, Indiana. She attended Bloomington High School South from 1980-1984. After graduating from Stanford University in 1988, she moved to Southern California to take care of horses for a brief period of time. Next, Arija moved to New York City first working as a paralegal while contemplating which direction to take her life in. Originally, she had dreamed of becoming a dancer, which has been reflected in some of her roles on the stage. She eventually decided to become an actress, so she took a…