If I could describe myself when I entered high school, it would be painfully awkward. I always kept to myself, with my middle school emo fringe tastefully hiding my eyes from the general public as My Chemical Romance blared through the headphones attached to my iPod Nano.

I got my schedule from the wide eyed, brightly smiling counselor, and wanted to die when I saw that I had been dropped in the only extracurricular class I did not want to be in: drama fundamentals. Insert horror movie music and lightning flashes here. I couldn't even talk to the person next to me in class, let alone get on a stage and perform! I knew I had to drop out, or I was simply going to die of angst and humiliation.

However, I had to at least get through the first day--and that first day was all it took.

Dear High School Drama Class,

Thank you for being the home I never knew I wanted, until you became the home I realized I could never live without. I could not even begin to count the number of tears I shed, inside jokes I created, the laughs that ensued, and the memories formed within those walls, but they are more than enough to last a lifetime.

You carried me through my formative years as a girl with terrible eyeliner, tight band t-shirts, and loud, screaming music, and nurtured me into a woman with slightly better eyeliner, many lifelong friends, and a confident attitude.

There were many times during class when I hated theatre, primarily when I had to learn Shakespearean monologues, but even then, I knew that I had a place where I belonged, unconditionally.

I gave my heart and soul to you, with hours and hours of rehearsals and recitations, and I worked until I wanted to collapse. However, when the night finally came when all my closest friends were huddled quietly behind closed curtains as an eager audience awaited our performance on the other side, those hours of labor seemed like nothing at all. The adrenaline that comes from singing your heart out, dancing in proper time, and all while trying to remain in character and remember your lines is a rush that cannot be compared to anything else in this world.

But more than that, thank you, because you gave me so much more than a few musicals to put on my resume—you gave me a family. You kept me up when I thought my whole world was falling down around me and taught me how to do the same for others. You made sure I was never hungry, never got enough sleep, and never had enough oxygen, as you kept me laughing until my sides hurt and my eyes watered.

I learned so much about life and interacting with others in the moments between being onstage and during late night adventures to whatever awful restaurant was open at midnight after performances came to a close.

I learned how to say no. I learned how to say yes, enthusiastically, even though I was terrified. I learned that you make your closest friends at two in the morning. I learned how to yell (read as: "project"). I learned how to apologize. I learned how to be angry, but never bitter. I learned that inside jokes never get old, even after you tell them for the millionth time. I learned that vodka goes really well with having to sing in front of two hundred people. I learned how to talk to people with loud personalities. I learned how to talk to people with quiet personalities, but loud minds. I learned that crying is both okay and welcome. I learned that the best parts of acting are the looks and silent gestures made off stage while the performance is happening. Oh, and I also learned how to act upon occasion.

I learned how to be myself and how to find those who loved me for who I was.

I'm in college now, and finding time for acting is much harder than it used to be. Although I adore the monologues and musicals and everything in between, I am starting to find that the things I learned after the assignments were over are the things that have made me a better person. So thank you, high school drama class, for giving me so much, when in the beginning I offered so little. Thank you for grabbing onto me and not letting go. Who can say if I have been changed for the better, but because I knew you, I have been changed for good.

XOXO.