Eleven years ago, I made a decision that would change my life forever. Well, to be fair, my mom likely made the decision that would change my life forever. It was the sixth grade, and I had just moved only the spring prior, and found myself a new student in a new school. Unlike many other new middle schoolers, who had their elementary school comrades to talk to, I was a complete outsider.

Looking to help me out, my mom suggested that I audition for the spring musical. I immediately laughed it off, having grown up playing all sorts of sports and not having the slightest interest in acting. As the days went by, however, I decided I would listen to my mom and just go for it. Not only did I get a major part, Jack ("Into the Woods"), but I found myself in an amazing community of students of all grade levels.

I will never forget the wonderful moments the production gave me. I will always remember setting myself for the opening scene pose, watching the curtains slowly being drawn back, as well as my complete inability to put a frown on my face throughout the entire show, even when my cow died, because I was having too much fun. Even today, I can sing the junior version of “There Are Giants in the Sky.”

Although there are many moments that receive the cliché of being life-changing, this one probably embodies that concept most. The theatre world affected me in a way that is almost impossible to describe. As aforementioned, my middle school drama club gave me a home for the next two years and something to look forward to every year. But even more so, as I made it into high school, I knew exactly the first question to ask: “Who do I talk to about getting involved in theatre?” In high school, the drama club was my home away from home, something I always looked forward to. The other day, at a Wildwood Summer Theatre picnic, I met an individual currently at my high school doing theatre there; we had a rundown of all the traditions, comparing experiences, and the wonders of moments there.

But theatre did more than provide a home for me; it helped develop me into who I am today. In the ninth grade, after years of playing trombone in band, I decided to make the switch over to choir, with really one major objective in mind: to improve my singing enough to do well with high school theatre. Four years later, and I was one of the biggest choir nerds in the school (at least I would like to think so), and had developed a love for singing all things Eric Whitacre, and classical music in general.

Moreover, through doing various honors and all-state choirs, I had the opportunity to meet talented singers from other schools, many of which were also involved with theatre back at their home school. And so, being the theatre fanatic that I was, I went to see my new friends in other shows at their respective high schools. Thus, in some respect, my theatre community not only expanded but came full circle as well.

Theatre also gave me some rather important and useful skills. Firstly, it improved my ability to talk or present in front of other people. In elementary school, pre-theatre, I was absolutely terrified of the oral presentations that we had to give. After my involvement with theatre, presenting topics became much more simpler and less stressful. Furthermore, with my involvement in the business and house manager aspect of my high school theatre club, I had the opportunity to work with various technologies, including Microsoft Publisher and Adobe InDesign, and design the playbills and T-shirts for some of the shows that I was in. Not only were these skills useful in college, but also for various other activities.

Perhaps most presently, theatre has given me something to do this summer while I wait for student teaching in the fall. I am presently involved in a production of "Grease" with Wildwood Summer Theatre and, so far, it has been awesome. There is no way to describe how great it has been to get back on stage and do some theatre. While I may not have been involved as much during my college years, my decision to join theatre in sixth grade still reverberates in my life every day. It is hard to imagine where I would be today without theatre; it has been not only a memorable part of my life, but a super impactful one at that.