Involvement in Theatre and the Dramatic Arts is a passion of mine that extends far beyond reciting Shakespeare under scorching spotlights or mastering kick-line choreography. In my eight years of performing, I’ve learned that true appreciation of theatre comes from understanding and immersing oneself in every facet of production. The show cannot go on with performers alone. I’ve had many opportunities to experience both the grit and rewards of backstage work, from organizing a helter-skelter green room and being run over by set pieces (and having to designing lights and working soundboards to collaborating in direction and writing of a a historical interpretive theatre piece entitled "Freedom’s Call." Additionally, I've served on the Advisory Board for Tennessee Thespian Conference, preparing theatre workshops and entertainment for the conference as well as promoting high school theatre within the community. In performance theatre, I’ve experienced both the emotional impact of more solemn straight plays as well as the vigor and intensity of musicals, acting in everything from Thornton Wilder's somber "Our Town" to the whimsical and witty musical version of "You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown." In my eyes, theatre is the most versatile and potent instrument to convey emotions and communicate messages. Performance amplifies fundamental yet insightful human feelings and truths to such a level that most poignantly ensures our understanding of them. It is through Lady Macbeth's rueful soliloquy that we understand the occasional darkness and depravity in human nature, and it is through Cyrano de Bergerac's love letters that we see pure devotion and affection that so many of us have felt. Theatre is not solely a preferred creative outlet, but both an artful and transcendent vehicle of expression and truth.