"The theater is so endlessly fascinating because it's so accidental. It's so much like life." - Arthur Miller

The time is drawing near. You can't believe it. The double doors you've been walking through the past four years, you will no longer be walking into. You won't have to memorize lines or cues. You won't be freaking out about auditions that are happening after school that day, and the anxiety of the cast list going up later in the week. The after school rehearsals will be no more. All these things that seemed so strenuous and stressful are the things you're going to miss the most.

Theatre is place where I felt I didn't need to pretend. High school can be a rough time for some. For others, walking through those halls can be easy, but for others, it takes a lot. It's not difficult to feel judged in a place of your peers. It truly depends on your own high school experience, but no matter who you are or what you do, those four years are a place of learning and discovering things about yourself you didn't know before. I learned and discovered that theatre was a place that I only wish I would've found sooner.

I remember sometimes not looking forward to rehearsals after a long day of school. You know how it goes, after school, all you want is to go home and nap. Rehearsals definitely gets in the way of those after school naps, but that's okay. As much as you may not want to go to rehearsals or how annoyed you may be in that moment, just take a second. Take a second these last couple months to look around at all the people you're surrounded by on that stage, in that auditorium. You may know some a bit more than others, but in the end, you're all apart of one big family. You and this group of people created something by working together and there is something so, so special in that. You may not have written the jokes you perform on stage, but the way you and all the people around you performed them, made people laugh. Take a minute to look around backstage, onstage, and in the makeup room and remember all the inside jokes that were created and all the laughs that were shared in those places. Take a moment to remember the memories, the people, the jokes, the bonds with the theatre directors, all the stress and all the excitement - take every last bit of your high school theatre experience in because soon, it will no longer be yours. Before you know it, you'll be in the audience next fall, watching all of your underclassmen friends and fresh new faces making the same memories you did.

And if you are reading this and you're still in high school looking for a place where you would like to feel accepted and appreciated as the person you are, I strongly suggest you join the theatre program at your school, or wherever you may be. As cliché as it sounds, it will change your life. I met some of my best friends through theatre that I know, deep in my heart, will be in my life for a very, very long time. Through theatre, you make memories and meet people you wouldn't trade for the world.

So take a chance and take it all in. It'll be worth it.