I use comedy as a coping mechanism. I believe it's better to find ways to laugh at the difficult things in life to make them more bearable to live with. Comedy also helps us find the good and joy in the world through the things that may not seem so joyful. My neurodivergent brain doesn't like to always analyze things with only seriousness. It's fun to think more creatively sometimes. Now, on with our story!: This past February, I was in a very difficult headspace. I had just finished the last performances of our show, and our tight-knit cast/crew were no longer together 12 hours a day. The day after closing, I was immediately plunged into the next show I was a part of (which I was excited for, don't get me wrong, but I had no time to mourn!). I had a hard time dealing with all the changes happening with my schedule, my friends, and my mental health. Thankfully, after J-term, our improv comedy troupe 'LineUs' started having practices again. In the spring of my first year of college, I auditioned for LineUs because I was always known as the adjective 'funny' over anything else. Truthfully, ever since I saw the group perform during college orientation, I was determined to get onstage with them (not literally though, I sat in my chair and laughed at their show like the respectful student I am). To my surprise, I was one of four people to get in! — But let's flash forward again. So February continued, my mental health struggled, and the new show was tough work to start, but LineUs was there for me. We had practices twice a week at 9 pm, and 2 out of 7 mornings (plus more if we had a show), I would excitedly wake up thinking "I get to do improv today. I get to be silly with my good pals". At LineUs, I get to leave the rest of my life behind for an hour and a half and just laugh. I get to laugh with (and at) my friends, bringing me endorphins. I get to make others laugh, which brings me possibly even more endorphins. I am happiest when I'm doing improv comedy. There are ways to build worlds, create characters, and bring joy to people who may really, genuinely need it. I'm a theatre major who hopes to work as a professional actor. After doing theatre for 5+ years, I've been blessed with some comedic roles, and they tended to be the easiest characters to mold myself into. I've also dabbled in different genres of comedic performance arts, including drag, dance, and improv. However, in the future, I hope to get the chance to try clowning of some sort. I love the idea of being a children's performer just once. I even have a name and the general outfit I'd want to wear if I got to be a clown. But overall, I just love to perform, and if I can find a way to make people laugh, make people feel things, make people leave a theatre thinking "Boy golly, I could see that again," I will have done what I wanted to do.