Dear Theater Family,
When I first came to school, it was hard for me to find somewhere where I belong. The first week was when everyone started to form friendships and I locked myself in my dorm. My entire first semester of school was miserable and I felt so alone. At the beginning of the second semester, something in my gut was telling me to audition for the spring musical. At that point, I had not done a musical in years. I was very hesitant and remember sitting there the day of auditions contemplating backing out of auditioning. Something that day led me to you and I couldn’t imagine where I would be today if I hadn’t auditioned that day. When I auditioned and I got in, I had no idea that I was not only about to find an amazing group of friends, but I was about to find my family away from home.
Being the newbie in any situation is nerve-wracking; you never know how you are going to be perceived by a new group of people. From the very first rehearsal, I was welcomed with open arms. The moment I walked into the theater for the first time I felt like I was walking into a home. Everyone was laughing and smiling. I can’t remember a time during rehearsals when we were not fooling around. No one wanted to be my friend in freshman year. I was quiet and anxious all the time no one even bothered to talk to me. When you came along, it changed everything. I came to school freshman year looking for a new friend or two, and ended up finding over 30.
After freshman year ended, I counted down the days until the next spring musical. I came back the following year and that’s when the bond grew even closer. Normally after rehearsals, I would go back to my room for the night but you guys never let that happen. You would come knocking at door at 10pm sharp, physically pick me up and carry me out of my dorm to go to Applebee’s. Before I met you guys, I would spend the weekend home by myself because I never wanted to stay on campus. For the first time, I wanted to be on campus because I wanted to spend time with my second family.
I will never forget move-in day junior year. I used to dread coming back to school after the summer, but that all changed junior year. For the first time, I was jumping with excitement the whole ride back to school. When I pulled in, a bunch of you attacked my car until I ran out of the car to hug you after spending four months apart. In that moment, I was truly happy knowing that I found where I belong.
I really needed you all this year more than you could even imagine. As I was going through a rough time, I had you to lean on. Even though you may not have known what was going on, just being in the room with you all smiling, laughing and joking around, made me forget about everything bad I was going through. You were always there for me because that’s what families do.
I cannot put into words how thankful I am for every single one of you that I have met through this group. I am doing things I never thought I would be able to do because you all pushed me to be the best I could be. You believed in me when I didn’t believe in myself. You wanted to be my friends when no one else wanted to. For that, I will forever be grateful for you.
