You know exactly who you are. So I figured I would thank you for all you have done for me the 3 years I had you. You didn’t come into my life until my sophomore year in high school and I don’t think I would be the person I am today if it wasn’t for you. You helped me open up and realize that I am capable of much more than I ever thought I was. You gave me opportunities to express my thoughts and ideas and supported me every step of the way. Here are a few things I would like to highlight and thank you for:

You opened me up.

If it wasn’t for you I pretty sure I still would have been that shy, quiet girl that never opened her mouth unless she was forced to. Over my time working with you I became much more confident in myself, and that is something I thought I would never be.

You gave me more opportunities than I could ever imagine.

I always thought that I was only ever going to be apart of the technical aspects of theatre because that was my strongest suit all throughout middle school and that’s how I started my high school theatre career. But you believed that I could do greater things than just painting a set piece or shining a light on an actor on stage. Because of you I was able to co-direct an entire show, stage manage a huge tech crew and cast for a theatre competition, and even throw in some acting.

You believed in me when I thought no one else did.

Everyone has those times where they feel like the whole world is against them. I felt like that a lot, for many different reasons. But I knew when I came to school and had class with you and then rehearsal right after school I could come to a place where you believed in everything I did.

But, sometimes you made me go a little insane.

You and I can both admit that we had our differences. There were times where I was just ready to rip either my head or your head off because there was so much going on and we couldn’t agree on anything. But I realized all those times I was ready to kill you, you were only trying to make me better myself.

You exposed me to the real world of theatre.

Although you were my high school teacher, you still had that real world experience that you had no problem exposing all of your students to. Luckily for us it gave us all some real world experience in the world of theatre. So many workshops that we attended or even just stepped into your classroom ready to learn how it really works on Broadway, Off Broadway, the West End etc.

Overall, thank you for helping me realize who I am.

Like I have said multiple times, if it wasn’t for you, I wouldn’t be the person I am today. You made me realize my love for theatre is greater than I will ever be. You made me realize that I can go into the real world and still include theatre in my life as much as possible.

Thank you for being such an amazing teacher throughout the 3 years that we had together while I was in high school. Because of you I can go into the world feeling prepared to take on some of the most difficult challenges that is coming my way.