Thomas Tuggle

At the start of my first high school year I quickly found myself in dire need to participate in some sort of activity. I possessed no athletic skills whatsoever, nor did I have interest in obtaining any. My father turned me towards the theatre table where I quickly looked past it because I knew my stage fright would never allow it. As he forced me to approach the booth anyway, I quickly learned of the entire other half of the theatre, the technicians. I decided to give it a shot and soon enough found myself placed on lighting crew my freshman year. Lighting things was fun. The long Saturdays up on ladders and scaffolding, balancing heavy fixtures and focusing them into the correct areas. It was what I wanted to spend my free time on. As time went on in high school I eventually found myself in charge of the lighting for three show and support lighting for another three. I even earned a state championship in One-Act Play for one of them. Seeing my excellent leadership skills, my director asked me to take on an even larger role as stage manager. As stage manager I not only oversaw the lighting crew, but all other technician crews as well. I even moderated between the actors and the director during rehearsals. Stress flowed straight threw me and into my work. Later I would even earn an officer position in our Thespian troupe. I was never such passionate about anything other than my high school theatre.