I don't know exactly when my need/pleasure for entertaining others manifested itself. I just always enjoyed making people laugh because it made me feel good to see that I, as an individual, had the power to change someone's mood.

Often I was told by family members that I should do acting, but in the back of my mind I always doubted myself. I would think "they are my family, the words sputtered out of their mouth are to be nice and don't hold merit." It wasn't until my senior year of high school that I auditioned for my first play. Simple performance anxiety does not do justice to the way I felt going into that first audition.

At the time I was still wrestling and feared that my coach would either get me kicked off the team or just make life incredibly difficult. After many hours of pacing back and forth in my room, I decided to just try out for the play, which at the time was, "Alice in Wonderland."

I went in and all of sudden it was over; my nerves must have been so bad that time time and space were being distorted right in front of me. The next day callbacks were listed and I was elated to see I had made it. After callbacks were said and done, I felt a tad more confident and the next day, I was beyond honored to have been cast as the Gryphon. I might not have had too many lines, but just the experience alone was gratifying. Acting has given me more satisfaction than any medal, trophy or ribbon that I have ever gotten from playing sports my whole life.

When I first got to Doane, I was only going to focus on wrestling and school because I convinced myself I was not good enough for college theatre. I decided to leave the theatrical part of college life to people who had likely been doing theatre much longer than me.

Some time passes and my first acting opportunity was given to me by Cheyanna Kempel, who at the time was the TA for my LAR class (a liberal arts seminar). She was directing a play for my class and asked me if I wanted to partake. I was hesitant honestly, but I never leave. A friend in need, left hanging, I gladly accepted any role she gave me.

My second and third acting opportunity was given to me by my good friends, Samantha Desh and Dan Peters, who both were directing a student play. I again jumped at the opportunity to act. Freshmen year came to pass and wrestling at this point did not hold the same value as it did back in high school.

Eventually, I took a leap of faith and auditioned for the fall plays. I was lucky to get a callback for both shows and actually was blessed to land a part in Doane's production of, "One Man, Two Guvnors," a play written by Richard Bean.

This year, I get the amazing opportunity to be on the Doane Improv team and be a part of Doane's production of "Seagull." Acting has given me more joy than almost anything else in my life. Acting has given me a new outlets to express myself. Acting has saved my life.

I just now want to take the time to thank everyone I have encountered while being a part of the Doane Theatre Community. From the lead actors to the tech crews, each and everyone of you has impacted my life more than you could ever know.