High school was a mixed bag for me, like it was for a lot of people. Having changed districts from a small one, to a big one, I was overwhelmed to say the absolute least. I tried things that I thought worked for me in the past, i.e. sports. So, sports were not for me (I am kind of a spaz, I just did not know, until high school that is). I got lost in the shuffle after that, but not for too long.
Fast forward to the end of my freshman year; my brother was in chorus. This has nothing to do with me on the surface, but oh gosh, bear with me. My older brother was going to appear in one scene of the school’s musical that year, "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to a Forum," so naturally my whole family and I had to come and obnoxiously support him. I was obsessed with the show from the moment it started, and I wanted to be a part of it.
During my sophomore year, I was a tech on the drama in the fall and the musical in the spring. I learned so many practical things in my high school theater, such as how to use power tools, how to build things, and how to be a part of something bigger than myself (wow, that was cliche, but looking at it retrospectively, it is what happened OK?). Theater became a huge part of my life, and for the two years that followed I was the most dedicated tech that you could have ever imagined. Very fortunately, I graduated high school as a part of a thespian society (I know it does not sound that cool, but believe me when I say, oh, it is.).
And fast forward to now, although my life as a tech is on hold now, I am fortunate enough to be at Monmouth as a peer learning assistant in a class that focuses on theater. Today, my gaff tape is on the shelf (it's magical tape guys, get some -- you can fix like, everything with it), I’ll always have love for the theater because it helped me figure out a part of my life when I thought I was lost. The spirit of Thespis got me through!
