There is something so odd about spending years pretending to be someone else and realizing that, somehow, in hindsight, it teaches you more about yourself. This picture is me playing Doralee Rhodes in my high school's production of 9 to 5, but Doralee is only one of the many different characters' stories that I've had the privilege of bringing to light. Now, while not all my roles have required fake butt pads and two push-up bras to make their story more authentic on a stage, every role has required me to temporarily borrow someone else's voice, personality, confidence, and fears. Somewhere in the midst of all these different people, I began to understand my own.

I grew up being on a stage (not actually), but I definitely have had my fair share of sitting on a Marley floor and squinting my eyes through a spotlight. Doing musical theatre has taught me obviously so many different things about being a performer, but it has also shaped the important life skills I carry with me today. I learned how to walk into rooms full of people I've never met and be able to command and connect over something so simple like figuring out we were singing the wrong lyrics in a musical number for weeks. I learned that real confidence is choosing to perform your best not only in the absence of nerves but in spite of them. I learned criticism doesn't always have to be an attack but rather the driving force to push you to be the version of yourself you didn't know you could be. Most importantly, I learned how many incredible things can come from the effort of a group of people when they commit to something bigger than themselves.

I eventually chose not to pursue musical theater professionally in college, but leaving the physical stage didn't mean I left all the things I learned on it behind. Theatre taught me how to communicate, adapt, collaborate, and understand all kinds of perspectives that are far from my own. It allowed me to step outside of myself and see people as individual stories that are waiting to be told. Every character from Wednesday Addams to Roxie Hart has revealed something to me about myself and how expression is never something we should be afraid to take on. While I can't exactly bust out my mixed belt in a courtroom when I am hopefully a future lawyer, my ability to communicate and connect efficiently will be of utmost importance, and theatre will forever allow itself to be a part of my life even in the ways I can't expect.