Throughout school, the theater department has always been my go-to place with go-to people when I need advice, a dance party, or just someone to listen to me vent.

You never know what's going to happen when you're dealing with theatre or what kind of characters you'll encounter. We have too much fun doing anything! One time in my senior year acting class, we spent an entire class period watching Bob's Burgers, and it was the greatest class period ever.

In high school, I was a theatre focus, which meant I took mostly theatre classes aside form the core History, English, Math, and Foreign Language classes. My acting classes were always very small as I went to a small school, but my class size for my sophomore, junior, and senior years of high school had three to four people in them. And, it was the same people too, so we were super close. It's the little things that people do that really matter to me, and my friends and professors in theater have always done these little things.

Actors, actresses, stage managers, lighting designers, and practically everyone is so welcoming! Like many students at Rollins, my first semester at college was the first semester I was in a new place with new people far away from home. And, it was very different. Luckily, my freshman RCC course was like a little family! Every Monday and Wednesday, I could not wait to meet in the Fred Stone Theatre and play improvisation games for two hours with my new little family! My peer mentors were so supportive and hilarious, and my advisor happened to be in the theater department, so naturally I spent way too much time in the theater, between classes and advising sessions.

The first person I met in my Summer Orientation group was Nick D’Alessandro, who is very involved in the theater and an amazing person. Immediately, we bonded over the fact that we were the only non-athletic people in our group.

We are still great friends and I am always so happy to see him in shows and everything else that he does. Aside from Nick and some of my RCC homies, I did not know anyone else involved in theater, but when I was an assistant stage manager for Machinal, everyone was so welcoming. Granted, the director was my RCC professor, but still the cast and crew were so helpful and people already considered me a friend.

Another added benefit of having theater friends is they literally do not care if you start spontaneously singing, laughing, or skipping across campus. Literally, whenever I see one of my friends, sisters, or someone I kind of know, I get so excited! My theater friends always are equally as excited if not more excited than I am, and we always greet each other as if we haven’t seen each other in years. Sometimes, that’s the best moment of my day.

Theater people are amazing, and you should get to know them if you don't already.

Peace, love, theater.