Do you remember the exact moment you found your thing? Like, the precise second everything fell into place and you realized, "in a perfect world, this is how I would spend my life."

That moment, and that thing. I don't think I can ever forget when I found my thing. Admittedly, it wasn't too long ago, but I tend to forget anything that isn't actively happening to me at a given moment in time.

I was a freshman in high school when I auditioned for a musical for the first time. It was Into The Woods, produced by the university that I'll be attending come this fall.

I sang I Want More from Lestat, and I wasn't cast. It broke my heart at the time, but because I wasn't cast in that show, I was free to audition for the first musical I'd ever be in Big Fish. ("But Shawna!" you ask, wide-eyed and somewhat confused. "Isn't that a Tim Burton movie?" It is, and it was a novella before that, but neither of those is important today. We're talking about musicals.)

I remember everything about that day. I auditioned on a Friday, and I wore a black dress with white polka dots because I thought I needed to look professional for auditions. I super-regretted that later because I was significantly over-dressed, but I felt so cute in the dress that it didn't matter till I realized: everyone that was wearing regular clothes? They'd been doing stuff like this for some time. I didn't need to look so nice.

Picking out audition songs has never been my strong suit, but I think my song for Big Fish was probably one of my better selections. It fit my range and the overall tone of the music in the show, and I still love the song!

I wouldn't sing it for anything now because I recognize that I'm getting to the point where I can play an adult without it being questioned, but at the time, I was fifteen, and I thought, "Hey! I can sing about what I want to be when I grow up!" (The song in question was Picture Show from Bonnie and Clyde.)

Auditions went well in my mind, and I was ecstatic to find out that I'd been cast in the show, along with two girls that I'd been on dance line with the previous year, two other people from my school, and someone I had never met but would become one of my closest friends.

It didn't take long for me to come to the conclusion that I loved everything that was happening around me. I was surrounded by kind, talented, encouraging performers, and I sincerely think their talent rubbed off on me because I wouldn't be near as talented as I am now if not for being able to watch the people that I met during that show.

For once, I didn't feel like an outsider. I felt like I belonged! At fifteen, I wasn't too good at making friends, but the people at CharACTers Entertainment refused to let me stay in my shell. It hadn't taken me too long to befriend the people I already kind of knew, and shortly after that, the entire cast.

Although, the exact moment everything clicked for me wasn't until tech week. (Tech week: the week leading up to opening night, dress rehearsals every night, full hair and makeup and costumes and lighting; alternatively known as hell week.)

It reminded me a little bit too much of band camp, and by Tuesday, I was waiting for everything to fall apart, for the realization that I actually hated it all to kick in (like with band camp), but that never came. By Thursday, I'd spent more time with the cast of that show that I had with my family. I loved it!

After rehearsal, that night, my friends and I piled into Mary Kate's van, and we painted the town. Literally - well, not quite literally, but close enough. The cast of that show went to a frequently used street (I had no idea where we actually were at the time, but looking back, I'm pretty sure it was Broad Street), and we used chalk on the sidewalks to advertise the show.

That was probably the latest I'd ever actually stayed out at that point in time, and I was so tired and kind of hungry, but I was surrounded by my friends, by people who love me and who I love in return.

That night was when I realized if I could spend the rest of my life doing this, especially with these people - I would be perfectly content. That's still true. If I can spend the rest of my life doing shows with people like Mary-Kate and Skylar and Caleb, I'll live a full life.

I loved every moment of that show, and I've loved every moment of every show after that, and I'll love every moment of every show that my future holds.