I was always involved in theatre. I had been acting since I was 8 years old, but after developing social anxiety due to COVID, it was hard for me to go back to theatre as an actor. It was at that point that I had realized that technicians in theatre are just as important - so I tried out for the crew. For my first show, I was an assistant Stage Manager. Learning leadership by staying organized, making sure everyone is on task and things are running smoothly, helping actors with their lines and blocking. My senior year, I became the Stage Manager. As someone who loves to be in control and spends most of her time in the auditorium, I am finally able to say that I have worked hard for the position I have. I want everyone to be able to thrive to the best of their abilities, whether they're an actor, on props, running the sound board, everyone. Being the Stage Manager, it is my responsibility to oversee the work that others put out. I put countless hours into the productions we put on our stage, my one goal is to make sure everyone is working their hardest so we can product the best possible show for the audience to enjoy. It can be overwhelming, sometimes I have to make sure students stay on task, it takes initiative to help others and give them advice. I earn the respect of others, and lots of theatre students respect me. It allows me to feel confident in my own skin. I put the work I do first, I never want anyone to fail and want them to learn from their experiences. Even when times get hard, it seems like everything is going wrong during a tech rehearsal, I push through. I take notes on the things that we, as a whole, need to improve on. I take my own notes on what I need to do to be better and benefit the company as a whole. I perservere through the rough nights where we stay late at school, working on our musical, or the early Saturday mornings I spend in the auditorium painting and building sets last minute. The idea of working together to put on a production that we are all proud of makes me so happy. We all work so hard and want to push each other to our fullest potential and to stand out. Being the Stage Manager for my theatre department allows me to put in effort, time, and energy into the arts I am passionate about, and I am able to view our final product from the booth while calling lighting cues for our show. I hope to pursue my passions in arts management and cannot wait to continue my journey in this industry.

As a technical theatre student and Stage Manager for my theatre department, I have spent countless hours in the auditorium working on set pieces, painting, and building for shows. Along with taking 3 years of art class, 1 year of a ceramics class, and 4 years of technical theatre, I have also filmed my own shortfilm and scored a shortfilm on my own. My dream is to work on Saturday Night Live, I am used to making sets on time crunches. On the set of Saturday Night Live, the technicians have 1 week to create sets, props, and costumes. For me personally, I work so much better and faster with a short amount of time given. For theatre, I typically spend 2-6 hours of my day in the shop building or painting set pieces. With access to a variety of powertools, I have the ability to create any project I am given. It can be challenging at times, especially being a leader and manager in my classes. As a lesbian woman, I don't get respect from my peers. Some people I have worked with ignore my advice or underestimate the work I can do because I wear makeup, dress feminine, and have long nails. But, I have built some amazing sets with my own hands. I hope to be able to work in an environment where I can be respected as an LGBTQ+ woman in such a cutthroat industry. I wish to pave the way for women working in an industry such as set designing and building. I hope people will eventually be able to view my art and look at me and say, "Wow, SHE did that?" I want to prove my worth and prove to others how hard of a worker I am. As a student leader in my technical theatre class and the Stage Manager, I oversee all of the projects I am assigned to. Whether it's a set that needs to be rolling on wheels, painted with realistic shadows, or needs to be fixed last minute because something broke, I control a majority of the final products that go out and take orders and criticism from my director. With my experience in management and building sets by hand, I hope to work under the stress and minimum time that Saturday Night Live technicians have to work under. I want my art and creations to speak for themselves, and for people to respect my creative choices, despite being a woman in an industry such as film and television. I work hard and I want my art to be able to reflect the hard work I put into it. Attached are some of my recent work I have done in technical theatre. The brick wall I painted all by myself, the porch and house was painted, built, and lead by me. I built and painted all of the walls of the blue set, as well as attached the pieces to the stage. The green gates were painted by me, they are also covered in glitter to enhance the crystals on the gates. These are just a few of the work I have done and/or lead in my class as well as stage management.

I have been addicted to self-harm all throughout high school. That addiction had consumed my life, it's all I thought about. I was behind in schooling, alone due to the pandemic, and utterly miserable. It was the only thing I felt that I could turn to. I was addicted for about two and a half years. It took months of therapy to overcome it. Medication changes, attempting to quit cold turkey, counseling, changing my environments, stepping out of my comfort zone, I tried everything. I tried my hardest to distract myself. That's what got me back into theatre and film. At nights, when I was upset, I would watch a movie instead of self-harming. Instead of spending my evenings alone, I would spend it with the other students in my theatre department. It's an addiction I wouldn't wish upon anyone, it can get so bad so quick. However, it allowed me to meet some of the best people I've ever met. The people I have met in my high school's theatre department have been some of the most wonderful, kind, and caring humans. I met them in a really dark time. I was engulfed in depression and anxiety. I would dip from highs and lows, and there are still people who have stuck by me ever since. With film, I was able to find my true passion by admiring filmmaking. Spending my nights studying camera techniquies, casting choices, film scores and soundtracks, all of it is so fascinating to me. I hope to pursue my career in Film and Entertainment Management. I want to be a Production Director. Through all of my research and learning about film, I had struggled with this addiction. It had slowly grown and shifted as my mood and mindset worsened. At the end of the day, I could always turn to theatre and film. They have always been there to distract me from any difficult thoughts I struggle with. I have been clean for over a year now, I have been focusing on my role as Stage Manager for my high school theatre. With this, I have lots of responsibility. Recovering from self-harm has allowed me to feel more confident in myself, I have gained respect from my peers, I have felt more comfortable in my skin. Recovery has given me strength I never had before. Being clean has changed my life, I am happier and more satisfied with my choices. The road was difficult and rocky, but being able to get clean from this harmful addiction allowed me to grow my career in theatre and film.

In middle school, I dealt with so much anxiety which is why I have always been interested in the human brain. My mother was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis when I was born, and this has affected both her and my family growing up. Going to National MS Society events as a kid, learning about how it affected her when I was much older, and even being diagnosed myself with hemiplegic migraines in 2019, the human brain has always been a huge part of my life. I want to learn why the brain develops the way it does. Why my mother has dealt with Multiple Sclerosis for over 15 years, why does my body go numb in states of stress? Having prior experience with the neurological side of the medical field, I would love to help other people who have been diagnosed with similar diseases. The human brain is so complex and hard to fully comprehend, but I want to dedicate my life to research on these diseases to help people similar to me. I want to be the person I was looking for the first time, numb in the hospital, wondering how I can be fixed. It takes dedication to devote a life to the human brain. I would love nothing more than to be the person that dedicated their life to nursing. I was always involved in theatre. I had been acting since I was 8 years old, but after developing social anxiety due to COVID, it was hard for me to go back to theatre as an actor. 2020 was the year I struggled the most - I dealt with levels of anxiety I had never experienced before, I had an addiction to self-harm, it was hard for me to eat, and I rarely got out of bed. I was terrified to leave the house out of fear. I had never experienced fear in that way before. I was switching therapists week from week, I struggled making friends and spent most of my days on Twitter which ended up being horrible for my mental health. I was used by people who I thought were my friends. It's very difficult to overcome depression and anxiety. After being diagnosed with OCD, MDD, and GAD, it was hard for me to separate myself from those labels. "You'll never get better, you won't be okay without medication, you'll never be happy again." But, I had to learn how to find happiness in other things. That's when I got back into my passion, theatre. It was at that point that I realized that technicians in theatre are just as important - so I tried out for the crew. For my first show, I was an assistant Stage Manager. Learning leadership by staying organized, making sure everyone is on task and things are running smoothly, and helping actors with their lines and blocking. In my senior year, I became the Stage Manager. As someone who loves to be in control and spends most of her time in the auditorium, I am finally able to say that I have worked hard for the position I have. I want everyone to be able to thrive to the best of their abilities, whether they're an actor, on props, running the soundboard, everyone. The idea of working together to put on a production that we are all proud of makes me so happy. We all work so hard and want to push each other to our fullest potential and to stand out.