Yesterday, that time of year came around again. Auditions were held for the musical theatre conservatory that I’ve adored being a part of for three years. It was a similar routine, yet many things were very different. It was the same familiar building with many of the old fellow students and parents who I’ve grown to consider my second family. However, we also had many new students and a new director. Also, my job was very different this year. I sat at a table outside of the audition room, signing everyone in and collecting paperwork. This year, I was not auditioning because I had graduated the program. It’s a weird feeling, and I’m not sure if I’ve even completely processed the fact that I won’t be spending my Saturdays like I used to.

Over the past few years, my theatre family and I have laughed, cried, learned and found ourselves together. While most high school students loved Saturdays for sleeping in, I loved it for jumping out of bed at 5:45 a.m. and taking the 40-minute car ride to the program, where we took voice, dance, and acting classes for up to 12 hours some days. It was a huge dedication, but I never would’ve had it any other way. The people I met were the best friends I could have ever asked for. Even our director became like a big brother to all of us. Every part of myself that people saw as being wrong at school or at home was suddenly OK around them. After just a few weeks of being friends, I noticed myself laughing more often and being less afraid to speak my mind. And I realized that it was because I had finally found a group of people who made me feel confident. It was the first time I felt like I could truly be myself, and didn’t have to try to be something else.

The conservatory made me the performer I am today. Without the skills it’s given me, I know I never would have been able to gain admission to my top choice college as a dramatic arts major. Though moving to NYC to pursue my passions is the most exciting thing in the world, so much of me will miss being at the place where it all started. But at the same time, it’s not all that sad because I know that I will take pieces of my program with me forever. My friends will never leave me, because we have a bond that’s tried and true. And I know that I will continue to meet people as wonderful as them in the future, because the number one thing that the program taught me was how to seek them out.