This semester, I have been student teaching. This is something I feel called to; something that I believe is ONE of the things I am supposed to do with my life. I have learned so much during this time, and I am so beyond thankful for the experiences I’ve had, and the experiences that are yet to come with the second half of the semester abroad.

Student teaching has been extremely difficult. I am hurting because I miss spending time with my friends, whose schedules are very different than mine. I hurt because of some of the hard things that have been said to me by students. I hurt because I won’t be here the whole year to see some of the fruition of the ways students are being impacted. I hurt because I am missing my fiancé more than ever. I hurt because I will be gone from him for two months at a distance far greater than driving four hours.

However, I ache and hurt so much because I am unable to participate in theatre at my amazing University while I am student teaching. Theatre -- acting in particular -- is something I also feel called to, and I always have felt called to it. Taylor University Theatre is set apart from other theatres because there is a level of community that I have never experienced in any other theatre I have been a part of -- and I have been in over 40 productions. I was walking back from seeing the amazing production of "Antigone," and I realized and summarized three reasons for why I ache so much to be back in the theatre.

1.The stories

I am involved with Taylor’s Playback Touring Troupe, and I have been since February of 2015. We have traveled all over the place, including performing at the Fringe Festival in Edinburgh, Scotland. This type of theatre is applied theatre, and we solicit stories from the audience and “play them back” for them. This experience is full of love, joy, heartache, reconciliation, peace, tears, laughter, and so much more. Playback has changed my life. Our troupe incorporates Scripture engagement in order to show people the stories that are found within Scripture that are not so different from their own personal stories.

Stories are the ultimate reason to participate in theatre. You get to know characters as if they were real, and when doing verbatim shows, they have been or still are. You have to commit to doing the story and the character justice. It is a large and difficult task, but a beautiful and rewarding one.

2. The People

The thing that is different about “theatre people” from Taylor is that our identities are not wrapped up in the fact that we are “theatre people.” We are people, who love to admire and experience and participate in art, who tell stories and come alongside one another to carry one another’s burdens, rejoice with one another, and just do life together.

I had a conversation with one of my friends who does theatre at a different University, and she said something along the lines of,

“When we get into show time, everyone is so rude and competitive, and we can’t be around one another too much until after everyone has dealt with their feelings about the cast list.”

I responded:

“Really? That’s not the way it happens at Taylor. Sure, we are competitive, and we push one another. Yes, we worry about the competition. The difference is, we come alongside and offer to help one another with our auditions, and ultimately, we want the casting to be what is best for the show.”

She looked at me, almost dumbfounded, and she asked me,

“How do you guys set that tone? How does that happen?”

I honestly didn’t completely know how to answer her for a second. It had been that way when I came in as a freshman.

“I would guess it is because we choose to glorify the Lord together at the beginning of the year, we pray over the space, we pour into underclassmen, and our director is really adamant about not having people be individualistic regarding theatre. She and our technical director set really good examples.”

Taylor Theatre community is like none I’ve ever seen.

3.The Presence

When I visited Taylor University, I was a senior in high school. It was Labor Day weekend, and I came up to do three different college visits. I didn’t get a formal tour, I wasn’t talked to by a bunch of professionals, and I wasn’t told why I should choose Taylor over IWU. My friend knew how much theatre meant to me, and he showed me that spot almost immediately.

I walked into the space, and my heart skipped beats. Nothing over the top or fancy -- definitely nicer than my high school theatre space -- and no one was in there. No sets were built, but I felt it. The Presence of the Lord was so overwhelming. I made the decision right then and there that I would come to Taylor. It sounds funny -- I hadn’t even looked into the program -- but I knew that I needed to spend time in that space, in that Presence.

Two years later, being on production staff, I had the opportunity to pray over the space. Each chair gets prayed over at the beginning of the year. Each space that work occurs is covered in the name of Christ. I cried. I knew that the Presence I had felt had something to do with this prayer that teams before me had showered over the space that would impact and change my life more than any other space at Taylor.

Since then, I have grown as an individual, an actor, a director, a participant, a doer of service, and a leader. I have grown in my faith, and God has challenged me so much in that space. I am so thankful that my time in the theatre is not over, and I look forward to more lessons learned, more relationships with people, and stories explored all for the sake of giving glory to the One who gave us the greatest nonfiction story of all and for all.

Psalm 107:1-2a “Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good—His steadfast love endures forever. Has the Lord redeemed you? Then speak out.”