Student Blog: A Love Letter to Theater

Summer tends to turn into a time for reflection for me, especially when I’m figuring out what I want my priorities to be for the coming school year. Most of the time, things that I let slip through the cracks the previous semester—for example, going to the library to study instead of sitting in my room, where I’m more likely to be distracted—are things I want to prioritize in the year to come. There are also things I prioritized last semester that I feel can afford to be put on the back burner this year. 

However, there is one thing that is always, always going to be a priority for me. This was the case in high school and remains the case in college, and my hope is that it continues to be a priority as I move into the real world. That thing, as you might have suspected, is theater. 

Theater has given me so much. It’s given me a community, both in high school and especially in college, that I can rely on no matter what happens. It’s brought me my closest friends, the people I can count on no matter what type of situation I’m in, and people that I know will support me and be there for me no matter what happens. 

Theater has given me tools that I know will be useful for the rest of my life. It’s taught me how to be organized, how to stay on a schedule, how to work with deadlines that are fixed and won’t change even if someone neglects to complete their part of the work in a timely manner. It’s taught me the importance of communication and how accommodations and flexibility are often possible as long as any potential issues or conflicts are presented early on in the process and not moments before they are relevant. 

Theater has taught me resilience, and how important it is to be able to bounce back from a setback, large or small. It’s taught me the importance of putting in effort, both on the stage and in the classroom. It’s taught me the value of leadership, and how just because someone isn’t the lead role in a show doesn’t mean they can’t be a leader in a rehearsal room, which I think is a principle that applies to the real world as well. Someone may not have the top title in a group, career, or classroom, but their actions can speak for themselves and the respect they earn from their leadership skills is something that’s incomparable. 

Theater has also taught me confidence—well, sort of. It’s taught me the importance of acting confident, at least, even if the actual confidence is something I’m still trying to work on, and how acting confident can be the difference between being offered a role or position and being turned away. 

Theater has taught me the importance of keeping activities and people in your life that will unconditionally make you happy. It’s taught me how to savor every single moment and how to create relationships with people that will last even after one specific chapter of your life closes. I am more and more grateful for theater every single day, and I think everyone, whether you’re a student or not, should have something in their lives that will bring joy into it no matter what happens.