Participating in the Aladdin Jr. musical was one of my best CAS experiences. Some of the lessons I’ve learned through this experience and would further use in the future were how my effort impacts the musical as a whole, the benefit of working together with my peers, and that if I want to do it, I can do it. 

When we started rehearsals in the PAC, I realized if I didn’t know the lyrics or dance, the whole show would be impacted by my actions. I struggled to learn all the songs, so when it hit me that the show was the next day, I spent the whole night memorizing it. I didn’t want to be the one who made the musical look bad because others may perceive my performance as the entire musical not doing enough. 

One obstacle I overcame was my energy being drained from school. Every day, I felt tired from school; thus, when I rehearse, I’m not always at my 100%, but seeing others’ enthusiasm and how everyone was working together inspired me to try my best even though I didn’t have the energy.

On the first day of performing, I felt nervous to the point where I felt like throwing up. I didn’t want to mess up anything for anyone, and I wanted everything to go well. Since I had different sides from which I had to leave after some scenes, it was hard to remember which side I should leave. Thus, I learned that it helps when I leave props and costumes on the sides I had to go from and write the sides down on my arm. When performing for elementary school, I felt how rewarding it is to accomplish something we all have worked on for so long that it outweighed all the struggles and stress I felt beforehand. On the second day, I knew what to expect. Thus, I improved on what I needed to improve and on what I learned from the first day of the performance.

Once the musical was over, I felt proud of myself because if I had not taken the initiative to audition for it, I would not have learned the things I’ve learned and would not have known more about myself. I also learned that the effort I put into anything can be rewarding.