Yesterday

In middle school, I did junior thespians. It was one of my favorite extracurricular activities and made many friends throughout my junior thespian career. In seventh grade, my friend, Daniel, and I decided on performing a duet scene entitled "Dog Day Morning." The first time we performed this scene to an audience was at the districts competition. Daniel and I had the goal of being awarded the Critic's Choice rating, the highest award in Junior Thespians only awarded to the best scene of each category. We got a perfect score but were not selected for critic's choice. Daniel and I were a bit disappointed but knew we had another chance at the state-wide competition. It would be difficult though. We would be competing against the best duet acting scenes in the whole state of Florida. After the performance at states, we were confident we could win. At the end of the day, there was still no mention of if we had won. Later, we arrived at the closing ceremony among 5,000 other thespians and sat to enjoy the critic's choice performances. Daniel and I sat down in a melancholic mood. Then, halfway through the show, we were told to follow the stage manager. Apparently, they hadn't sent the memo to our troupe. Daniel and I had won! We were ecstatic. Eagerly, we followed the stage manager to a large, backstage room, full of other actors warming up for their performance. Then it hit us. There were 5,000 people in the audience. We were nervous, at best. Then, it was our turn. I stepped out onto the stage, bright lights blinding me. But then, the nerves were gone. They had transformed from butterflies, to excited kids on Christmas Eve. After our performance, I felt like a changed person. It was humbling to receive such an award. From then on, I didn't take things for granted. I had learned that hard work pays off, and if I want something, I have to work for it.