I am currently going through one of the most stressful seasons in my life. During the summer, I auditioned for a part in the musical “Into The Woods”, and was cast as Cinderella’s Stepmother. I was so excited about it, but there was one problem, I had a schedule conflict. My practices for cross country were 2:45 to 4:45 p.m. everyday. Luckily, I wasn’t alone, other cast members also had after school activities. The directors said it would be totally fine. “Into The Woods” was scheduled to open the weekends of September 9th & 10th and 16th &17th, then I could just focus on cross country. Then late summer, my church decided to do an outreach production the last two weekends of October. I auditioned for a role as a teen addict and got the part. My schedule should’ve worked, because by the end of October, the school play and cross country would both be over.
On top of all of this, I was chosen to attend a performing arts school thirty minutes from where I live. My school schedule would have me traveling to the performing art school for the morning then returning to my regular high school for afternoon classes. It was a great idea on paper, but the reality is more challenging than I expected.
My daily schedule is not easy. I wake up at 5:30 a.m. to attend my performing arts school, then get on the bus to return to my regular high school, after school, I go to cross country practice, get home to take a shower, eat dinner, and return back to school for four hours of rehearsal.
I told myself that I would be okay because we were so close, but two weeks before opening night, our director called a meeting. Since many students had to miss rehearsals because of illness or other schedule conflicts and because the orchestra had double booked themselves, the show was postponed for late October.
The dates were finally set. We would perform “Into The Woods” during the last week of October. I was happy that rehearsal schedules were lightened, but it also meant that all of my activities would end around the same time and that this stressful situation would be prolonged. Now that we are in October, I have been through so many ups and downs. I’ve dealt with sore throats and needing vocal rest, to extended testing periods (which I could’ve used that time to work on homework), to running difficult cross country courses.
I’ve had anxious moments and days, wondering how I would ever if I’m ever make it, and feeling like I should just give up even though I’m so close. But, through this tough season, God has taught me a few things that I would love to share with you.
Come back next week for tips on how to cope with stress…
Nia (pronounced “Nye-ah”) is an aspiring actress and author. She is a student at Westerville central High School and Fort Hayes Perfoming Arts School . During her free time, she loves reading, writing, and listening to music, and is passionate about bringing the Kingdom of God through the stories she writes and the characters she portrays on stage.
