I've always been dramatic and deeply interested in acting since I was five years old. I've been acting in theatre since I was about nine years old, and it all started at a summer theatre camp. I was hooked since then, and took whatever acting opportunity I could in tiny Calais, Maine.

Now that I'm a senior in a liberal arts college, it's been a surreal experience for me to see how much one school loves and supports theatre so unconditionally. I feel much stronger as an actress, more well rounded, and I'm blessed to have the new experiences and training here while I complete my education.

It's a far cry from my experience in high school. Allow me to paint a picture of my high school. Calais High School (go Blue Devils!), a small high school that has a high success rate with sports, often our sport teams winning many competitions and games, a large concert band, and at one time, had a theatre club.

Unfortunately, Calais Drama is no more, as it was cut entirely in 2014 after a decrease in members and financial reasons. My heart broke when I heard the news. The Drama Club was the only reason I stayed after school every day, my one extracurricular activity that interest me. I'm not, nor have I ever been athletic in my life, drama was the activity for me.

I was in the drama club for three years, freshman year, junior year, and senior year of high school (I didn't do theatre my sophomore year because of personal reasons), and looking back, I was lucky I got to be involved when I did, now knowing its ill fate. My school nor the student body was very supportive of the club, it was always up to us to get materials, publicize upcoming productions, and it always the same actors that auditioned, never any new faces.

My junior year was very telling of these issues. We were in the midst of a play, We Won't Pay! We Won't Pay! an Italian political farce that was going very well, until our two lead actors unexpectedly dropped out, and with no time to replace them. The production was scrapped. With now three male actors and one female actress (yours truly), our director had no choice but to find a play that would accommodate all four of us. With the one act festivals looming next semester, that also caused problems in choosing a one act to fit in with the competition.

We ended up with the one act Joey-Boy, a dark comedy that required three male actors, one female. The play was difficult, especially for me, as there was a domestic violence fight scene, which required me to be beat up, strangled, play dead, and be put in a closet. Though I had plenty of acting experience, nothing prepared me for a play as intense as this one. But that play has challenged me as an actress and I'll always be grateful for the struggles of that play.

We went to the competition and we were easily the smallest school to compete. I couldn't help but to feel envious of the bigger schools, with lots of actors and crew members with elaborate costumes and sets, I wanted to know what it all felt like. Not one person from our community came to watch our performance, and hardly anyone had wished us good luck, but at least the competing schools loved our performance, which was the best we could get.

Joey-Boy (2011). This was right before the infamous fight scene.

Fast forward to 2014, my freshman year at UMF, where there's tons of actors with many years of experience, crew members that have also doubled as actors, and more importantly, a very supportive community and school that indulge in our productions whether the productions are ten minute scenes or two hours of comedy. I wish I could've attended the theatre-friendly schools my fellow acting peers have, but I know my journey in theatre is unique and my own.

It's completely reignited my passion for acting, pushed me way beyond my limits, and I've actually looked into directing for the first time, something I never thought I would do. I've grown so much as an actor since coming from small town Calais, and I feel more polished and stronger as a performer. I guess coming from a sports-favored town with minuscule art opportunity helped me out in the end, as I always dreamed of a better opportunity to act and perform, better my craft.