What's Once in a Life

This past weekend, was the annual Massachusett Educational Theatre Guild [METG] Drama Festival, which is a judged contest where around 6-7 schools are evaluated on their performance of a play of their choosing.  Our school participates annually.  This year, our play OMG [Opposite Machine Gadget] won silver.  

Despite the plot of the play and the roles played by various individuals, I’m here to honor the process.  I’d like to consider myself one who honors the process that takes me from point A to point B, and to be honest, preparing for Dramafest was very time consuming.  

Initially, when I joined the class, I was notified that there would be a weekend rehearsal.  I wasn’t expecting it to be three hours long.  Initially, when I joined the class, I was notified that Dramafest would take place on a Saturday in April.  I wasn’t expecting it to be 14 hours longs!  I was met by surprises and at many points, I felt resentment in joining the class.  I didn’t want to dedicate a whole Saturday [14 hours!] to Drama!  I needed to do homework!  I needed to practice tennis!  I have piano lessons every Saturday!  I expected it to be vapid and boring.  

This past weekend, when I went to Dramafest, that belief changed.  Coming out of Festival, I was extremely satisfied, not only by my school’s performance, but by my opportunity to indulge in the experience of attending fest.  It may not sound too significant, but in itself, Dramafest is an experience.  

Photo from www.bbns.org of closing scene.  Me, holding the "OMG"

Drama is very physical, and physicality on the stage is vital to a performance’s success…yet equally important is mentality.  My school performed last among the six schools so in my mind, all I could think about was how good all the other schools’ performances were before we performed.  Most of the plays that were performed gave me this reaction…“That was amazing!”  

Besides watching five other performances, we were also given time to hang out with other students from other schools.  In a way, it was a social opportunity.  In retrospect, 14 hours didn’t seem so bad afterall.    

Why do I call this post “What’s Once in a Life”?  Here’s my answer: to be frank, I don’t think I would participate in Dramafest again, yet I think it was important that I experienced it.  There are things in life that I would love to do frequently [dedicate a Saturday to Student Conferences, compete in certain sports etc. ] and on the other end, things I would indulge in once in a lifetime.   Regardless, one of my goals is to learn as much about the world as possible.  This is another way I have extended my knowledge.  

Departing Question:  What’s something you would do/have done that you wouldn’t consider doing again, but was something that was important to do at least one in your life?