Few art forms are as genuine and beautiful as live theater. This is why I am driven to go to college and pursue a career in acting. The reason I want to go into this path is because acting (in all mediums) is my one true passion. My dream is to work with others to make a performance succeed and be able to share my talents with the world. I have learned over the years that being on stage is where I am most happy. I have always maintained an interest in theater, acting, and everything that happens behind the scenes. I love musicals (both seeing them in person and simply listening to the music), and I have been going to see local productions with my family for as long as I can remember. Over the course of 5 years, I have been involved in a handful of productions: Almost Maine, Newsies, and 21 Books for a Reader. By being a part of these shows, I gained valuable knowledge of the theater and made lasting memories along the way. Some of my best memories occurred on the stage. One of my absolute favorite things about theatrical performance is how authentic it is. There are no re-dos when you're in front of a live audience. Another thing I love is getting to see everything come together from an actor's perspective. There is one day in particular when you're at rehearsals, and you just know. You can see the show becoming what it will soon be on opening night. There is also no greater thrill than waiting in the wings on said opening night and hearing the overture, or going out on stage to perform a show live for the first time. With this scholarship, I can strive towards my dream of becoming an actress and bringing this art to hundreds of people. As a double major in education and performing arts, I can become a teacher and share this love of theater with future students. It is vital to keep the art of theater acting alive, especially as we move towards an increasingly digital world. Being in theater offers skills that are essential in the real world: Teamwork, improvisation, memorization, and countless others. If students learn those skills, even if they are not going into acting as a career, they will be more successful and ready to handle problems more readily.

@son.of_a_ biscuit

During my time in high school, I have been involved in several extracurricular activities: Art club, drama, creative writing, National Honor Society, and the gifted program. I owe all of these after-school activities to my success and good grades today, and I'm going to finish my last year of high school strong. Through my school's drama club program and the Keep Roswell Beautiful organization, I have done work to help the community on two occasions. I and several other students spent two hours picking up trash in parking lots and one park to clean up the city. There is a fair bit of trash in Roswell due to littering, but I believe we made a significant difference. This work was completed on two separate occasions: Once in 10th grade, and again in 11th. The more memorable of these two years was the first. Our club met at a local park after school one Fall, were given our supplies, and got right to work. We had a great time working together, talking and laughing as we picked up trash around the park. The weather was perfect, and the time flew by unbelievably fast. Doing this work brought us closer and gave us fond memories to look back on. Even though most of the club is now graduated, I still think of these times with fondness. I am going to continue the tradition of helping our community with next year's club members, hopefully as the president of the drama club. As members of an organization, as a club, and as young people, we have so much potential to help the community in whatever way we can. Whether that is helping provide baked goods for a bake sale or cleaning up our parks and public spaces. Another memorable event I have is my home economics class in eighth grade. Our class got together and made pillowcases for the women's refuge. We worked hard to complete this project, and we were proud of what we had accomplished when we were done. I had never sewed a project like that before, and it was a challenge at first. My second attempt was a lot better, so that was the one I donated. This project was a great bonding experience between me and my friends; We shared our work, helped each other when necessary, and just had a lot of fun. We even got our picture in the local newspaper, which was awesome. I enjoy helping the community through both the curricular and extracurriculars I am involved in, and I hope to do even more in the future.