Hi! Here we are. The end of my first year in college. Suffice to say, it’s not what I expected. I came into this school year a shy, anxious, biology major and I’m writing this now as a confident, (still slightly anxious) political science major with a theatre minor. I spent the entire first semester of this year in classes I hated. I convinced myself that medical school was the best choice for me, but I got into some really hard classes and realized that I did not like the path I was on. It took a lot of strength to decide to completely shift my focus and change from a pre-med student to a pre-law student. The second half of the school year was spent taking classes I actually enjoyed and having actual time to participate in extracurricular activities. It’s funny because “strength” was the word I put on my MyIntent bracelet in the beginning of the year, and I still wear it to this day as a reminder to keep that strength with me wherever I go.

If you couldn’t tell, I love theatre. I love public speaking and I especially love anything that has to do with being on stage. It’s the only place I’ve felt truly confident in myself, and without doing theatre this year, I would not be the strong woman I am today. I think its so cool that my biggest service project this year involved doing theatre. I participated in a student organization called Off the Lake, which is a service based theatre organization that performs shows and donates all proceeds to specific charities each year. This year, the charity was “All That,” which is an organization that helps provide homeless teens with “academic, career, [and] life skills” to help them succeed later in life. I was cast in the musical, which meant that I had to rehearse three to five hours a night for over six months of the school year (not including the week right before the show), so this took up practically my entire year. When I wasn’t in rehearsal or studying, I sometimes participated in theatre workshops through Off the Lake with some of the amazing  kids from All That. I’m so thankful that I had the opportunity to give back to them while doing theatre.

This year really changed me for the better. I’m not who I was when the year started, and I’m so happy that I was able to find my inner strength, change majors, participate in a theatre organization that gives back to the community, and do so much more. I learned that taking a risk and doing what I love is so more important than staying in something that isn’t right for me just because I’m too scared to leave it. I hope to take that with me into next year and continue giving back whenever I can.

Until next time!

-Nicole