I peaked in junior high.

Dressed in neon tights, contrasting skirts and customized Converse, I ruled the middle school scene. Eighth grade was the defining year of my life, when I realized my personality was at its highest degree on stage.

The thought of hundreds of eyes staring at me caused my knees to shake uncontrollably. As a gawky, awkward  12-year-old, on stage was the last place I wanted to be.

Being part of the school’s musical, “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory,”did not cross my mind until a majority of my friends raved about how excited they were to audition. I did not want to be left out, so I decided the best choice was to sign up for crew until disaster struck. One of my friends was suddenly overcome with anxiety and begged me to audition beside her. Begrudgingly, I agreed.

Friday after auditions, a few of my friends dragged me along to the cast list, pointing excitedly at my name alongside Veruca Salt. Confused and concerned with the intelligence of the directors, I remembered my off key rendition of ‘Part of Your World’ from “The Little Mermaid”, flailing arms during the dance, and awkward voice cracks while reading out loud from my audition.

Something I thought would cause me severe anxiety  turned into the opportunity that gifted me enough confidence to carry myself through middle school.

I remained close with the directors throughout high school and this year I decided it was in my best interest to student direct “Suessical the Musical.” It was a win-win: the ability to immerse myself in art, and a lot of community service hours. It was nothing like I could have ever predicted.

Every day there were 20 things for me to do at one time, and quieting preteen babble down enough to have room to think was nearly impossible. Somehow I loved every second.

Being around 60 enthusiastic middle schoolers every day granted me an unbelievable amount of happiness. Each of the kids taught me how to love being involved and how rewarding it is to be exhausted after teaching a dance, giving out happily received advice and answering countless questions about my personal life: if I had a boyfriend, if I wanted a boyfriend, if I had ever kissed someone in my life, why I had never smiled.

Helping to create a positive experience in the arts for the junior high students carried my love for theater to them and taught me how deeply rooted my adoration for the arts is.

Going back to where I blossomed helped me regrow my love for the arts and taught me how important it is to do things that make you happy, even if you’re the only one seeing the benefits of your actions.