Life is improv. That is the most useful thing I have learned during my time at Algonquin. Your life is a one woman show, with absolutely no script and no intermission. 

I remember that being one of the first things Mrs. Morrison said in my first day of drama class. I remember it often in my life. Sometimes when I have to speak to a customer service person and pretend like I have lines down and other times when a teacher asks me how the homework went, when we both know damn well I didn’t do it. 

Truth be told, I think everybody learns to perform quite a bit in high school. We all put on these faces that we hide behind… and then pray we will figure out what the real one is. Constantly flying blind, acting like you have a clue what’s going on, and somehow, beautiful things can come from it. 

There is comfort in extremes. In staying with friends that don’t fit you, in not pushing yourself to the next level, because we aren’t flying blind when we settle… but we aren’t quite happy either. 

Life is a show, and your story deserves to be yours. That will never not be a scary thing to realize. That you will have to do the hard thing, the scary thing, and do something for you and no one else. That’s scary. Because when it comes to improv, the easy part is watching the people around you do their thing, but taking control, making the story what you want it to be, that’s hard. And that’s why it’s worth it. 

High school has been a whirlwind of late nights, best friends, dances, concerts, shows and desperately trying to take it all in. And we did. We all did. Because it’s good to take life for granted. It’s good to sit and live, and not worry about it slipping away… because nothing lasts forever. Every great scene will come to an end, and this one is about to. But the great thing about improv is there’s always a new idea. There is always another scene. Sing, dance, act, smile, dare to make the story new, even if it doesn’t go the way you think it will. It’s worth it. It’s always worth it. 

Congrats class of 2021, take a bow.