Usually the idea of warmer weather makes me happy. It reminds me that summer is coming, and that there are new experiences ahead. This spring, however, I dread the approach of warmer weather. This year, rising temperatures are a sign of the beginning of the end. The end of my life as a Muhlenberg student, and perhaps more importantly, as a member of the MTA.

So, what have I learned as a theatre major, as an MTA member, as President for the last year? My life as an actor, teacher, director, dramaturg, and writer of dorky papers has given me more than isolated experiences about the event or the work in the moment. I have learned so much about myself putting my heart into my class work, on the bus trips to New York, working tech calls, teching Black Boxes till the wee hour of the morn, and having long and earnest conversations about "art" and all that goes with it. Every single MTA event and production has felt like it had the entire world harnessed in its expression.

When I teach creative drama, I often tell my kids, "Acting is action." This is not an art that stands still. And this is by no means confined to the bodies on the stage. Everyone in the MTA uses the action of their craft to tell the stories that we put on the stage, whether through plywood or Pinter text. And as we build these stories together, we learn so much about ourselves together. We have learned about the determination to get things done, the importance of other perspectives, what it means to have the power to make someone laugh or cry, what happens to the space in a room when something beautiful is created out of the effort of a hundred hands, bodies and mouths. We live for the stage moments that climax and swell, only to be gone in the space of a second. In the second we create, we also destroy, as every curtain falls after two brief hours, and every production finishes its run. Yet, we keep at it, creating again and again, laughing and sometimes crying as we do it.

The opportunity to be part of this work for the last four years has changed my life. I had done theatre before, but never like this. The power, the friendship, and the craftsmanship that our theatre buildings hold amazes me every day I enter its doors, and I will never forget what it meant to call the Trexler Pavilion and the CA home. Love this power, treasure your capacity to create, and bring it outside of this building in your life at Muhlenberg, and keep it with you as you too one day face the trial of leaving.

This past year has seen so many great things: exciting shows on the Mainstage and in the Black Box, the triumphant experience of ACTF, our expanded community service programs, rocking galas, the fabulous semi-formal, the coming of Arts Week. In sharing all these moments, we have gotten closer and have witnessed the power of collaboration and joy. Keep growing, keep listening to each other, value the place where you are. My run here is almost over, but as I continue to create away from here, I will keep the lessons that you all have taught me. As any person who has ever wandered into a theatre will tell you, the show must go on, and it will. Find the courage to make it bigger and better than before, and I promise that I will bring the MTA with me wherever I end up. And remember, your experience here is not about many parts you have, or how much praise you get, but that it is about what you can make of your craft, how you can help out, how you can work to tell the stories you need to put into the world. Every moment of this process counts, even the ones that seem bad at the time. Remember, theatre is constantly in a cycle of creation and destruction, but it is your faith in the process, and your willingness to work as a member of the ensemble that will change you. Let it happen.