When I was in 10th grade, I made a decision that would forever change my life. I decided to join Playing For Others. I was right in the middle of deciding who I was and what I wanted to do with my life and how I wanted to be perceived. At the time, I had discovered my love of all things creative. I love to sing and act and dance, but still I was missing a little of something. I was still a little shy and not really willing to completely reach out to new things yet.
This all changed when I joined PFO. Suddenly I was making a whole slew of new friends and not only breaking out of my shell, but bursting through it with life and purpose. I realized I wanted to lead. I wanted to work harder than I ever had before and I wanted to succeed. I loved my buddy and I loved what we, as an organization, did. I never had really felt a passion like this yet. It took my love of theatre and music and art and applied it to not only my life but also the lives of others. I could use these newfound passions to benefit others and not just myself. I was away from the divas and the obnoxious attitudes of so many others my age. While discovering all of this in that whirlwind first year, what I didn’t realize was that my buddy was giving me even more than I was giving him.
Moving into my second year, I knew I wanted a bigger part of this organization in my life. I wanted to take on more responsibility. I applied to be a Chair or Secretary, and after a revealing interview and application process, I was thrilled to become Chair of the Tech Team committee. This was a brand new step for me. I would be leading my own peers to create costumes for the Arts Festival Weekend Theatre Experience. I also got to attend the Teen Board Meetings, in which we discussed all aspects of PFO. And yet, with all this new responsibility, I yearned for even more. After the first couple of Teen Board meetings, we decided to vote a small Teen Executive Board into effect, consisting of a President, Vice President, Secretary and Treasurer. I was honored and excited to be voted as the Vice President. This new leadership filled that yearn that I had. I now found myself in deep discussions with the other Teen Exec members and Jen about the very future of the organization itself. We were deciding how leadership was going to work. We were discussing interviews and mentor programs and all sorts of exciting opportunities. And luckily, I understood that I was being given an opportunity that very few are given in their entire lives. I was directly and very personally effecting the growth of an organization that I love and care deeply about. I never would have imagined that I would have come this far in only two years in the organization.
This year, I was voted on to a brand new development, the Teen Executive Committee, or “A-Team”. The idea had come out of the Teen Executive Board from the previous year, but spread out into an entire committee of amazing, talented, thoughtful, inspiring leaders. Together, we have literally run several events, meetings, and jobs within the organization. I’ve learned what it’s like to go behind the scenes while being an up-front leader as well. It has been a completely new, but incredible experience. I have had the absolute honor of being such a huge part of this organization.
