Of All The Activities, Interests And Experiences Listed On The Previous Page, Which Is The Most Meaningful To You, And Why?

Imagine me as an extremely self-conscious, fourteen-year-old girl just entering the ninth grade. Now imagine a theater class full of hyperactively noisy seniors, supervised by a loud and domineering drama teacher. NowÐ'...imagine me in that class. Great combination, right?

Henna, the senior who had amazingly taken me under her wing, had dragged me by the arm into the black box theater and laughed at my wobbly protests, saying that I would make great friends by joining theater. My first "great friend" was the drama teacher who almost immediately gave me a part in the play that would force me to stand in the very middle of the stage and shout out a single, derailing line in a Southern accent. Having to practically screech out my line at least thirty times in front of the entire class before my teacher was satisfied set the stage for the greatest change that I have ever undergone.

On stage, I was never allowed to speak in a low voice, hunch my shoulders, or cross my arms for securityÐ'... basically, I was starring in my own worst nightmare. Each day I was forced to explore an unfamiliar side of myself, and, in the process, I was being thrown together with people who I normally would have never dreamed of even making eye contact with, people who would later become my closest friends. For me, that first play was terrifying. Five plays later, I could have done a tribal dance in front the entire school without even feeling a twinge of embarrassment. Thanks to drama, I am, to coin a phrase, the mouse that roared.