Growing up I was always a silly kid. I loved making my classmates laugh, even if it was at the expense of my participation points in class. I loved singing and dancing around the house with my little sister and friends. Most of all, I loved it when my mom took me to the theater.

I grew up going to a school that I ended up attending for 13 years. As a kid, my babysitters were high school students from my school. Many of them did theater in our high school group "Players," and I went to see their shows, either with my mom, or sitting at their feet watching their friends on stage. I was mesmerized by the singing, the dancing, all of it. I knew I wanted to be in Players when I grew up.

It wasn't until my mom starting taking my sister and I to Broadway shows in New York that I became obsessed with theater. Now looking back on it, I realized how special these trips to Broadway were, not only for their influence on me as a kid, but for the privilege it is to see a Broadway show.

I think I saw Anything Goes starring Sutton Foster when I was 12 years old. It was a show full of tap dancing, songs that I could sing in the shower, and inappropriate jokes I didn't understand at the time but laugh at now. I vividly remember leaving the theater and telling my mom, "I want to be on Broadway when I grow up." She responded with a smile and said "that would be great, honey." I wanted to be up there on the stage with everyone's eyes on me, showing them what I could do. I started looking up performing arts camps, dance lessons, and ended up taking a few voice lessons. I was invested, I wanted it.

As I held on to this dream through my middle school years, I auditioned for the middle school production of Seussical Jr. The middle school musical when I was in 7th grade still used the same space as the much more experienced, much taller and older high school Players: The Rec. Though a former barn turned theater, the dusty, old Rec was a sight to behold when I walked in my first day of rehearsal after being cast as the baby kangaroo. Bold as ever in middle school, I walked up to our director Ms. Garrett and blurted, "I want to be on Broadway when I grow up." She laughed and said "well this is a good start."

I met all of my best friends through those two years in Middle School Drama, and as we made our way into high school, those friends stuck with me. I auditioned for my first Players musical Hairspray my freshman year only to be disappointed by being cast as part of the ensemble. The ensemble! I thought. "I don't even get a name!", I complained to my mom. In a fortunate turn of events for me, a senior quit the production and I was pulled form the masses to play Lou Ann, a dancer on the Corny Collins Show. As I saw it, it was my "big break."

I spent four years in Players. Vice President both my sophomore and junior year and Co-President my senior year, sharing the role with one of my best friends from middle school. I spent the fall on stage in musicals such as Hairspray, Footloose and Hello Dolly, and spent the spring behind the scenes in props, costumes, hair and makeup for shows such as The Crucible, Almost Maine, and Harvey. The Rec and Players were my safe haven throughout high school and though I had let go of my broadway dreams after not being cast as a lead or even a supporting role, I found my niche outside The Rec.

Between rehearsals, field hockey practice and a cappella, I joined a few diversity clubs, first just dipping my toe in, and then getting more involved. By the time I was a senior, I was the president and founder of many groups and programs on campus dedicated to creating a more inclusive, informed community. Combining my love for theater and diversity was inevitable.

I pushed (and when I say pushed I mean INSISTED) we do Legally Blonde my senior year. Was it because I listened to the soundtrack while I did my homework? Maybe. Was it because I secretly hoped Ms. Garrett would cast me as Elle Woods? Yes, yes it was. However, the show was quite risqué. It had crude jokes about women, the queer community and overall the message of persistence and self love was clouded by it's PG-13 rating. To this bump in the road, I responded by offering to create a program within Players that would educate the cast, crew, student body and audience about the topics presented in the show. With the help of the rest of the Players, we built a program that will hopefully last as long as Players continues to put on shows.

I went on stage that year in a blonde wig, decked out in pink clothing and accessories. Apparently playing Elle Woods in a high school production of Legally Blonde was all I needed to fulfill my 12 year old Broadway dreams.

Now an 18 year old college freshman, missing the warmth of The Rec and of the people that inhabit it, I thank my 12 year old self for dreaming big. I thank her for giving me a love of theater that will never die. I thank her for leading me to Players, to the people and the place that I will never forget.

Though I will not be pursuing theater as a career, who knows, maybe I'll audition for a show during my four years at Wellesley. So to the show that made me want to be on Broadway and my 12 year old pipe dream, thank you for giving me the love of theater.

And mom, thanks for believing in me.