My High school experience so far was anything but exciting. Well, my personal expectations of it might have been close, but I was definitely not tasting the actual excitement people were talking about. Some of them say that they spent the best years of their lives in high school. For quite a while, I tried to convince myself that I was doing fine when doing the least possible, but actually I was not. But that was well before I discover the art of theater. Indeed, not until I placed my foot on the stage for the first time did I start to enjoy high school. I did not know at that time but it was to become a passion. And surely, the past four years of acting are my best ones so far.

My personality as a child did not suggest that one day I would step on a theater stage to entertain five hundred people. I was a pretty timid boy. However, when it was time to enjoy some time and have fun, you certainly would not recognize me. I think that is what motivated my French teacher Ms. Capitoline to recruit me for the Drama club. She was one of the directors of the club. During one of her lessons, she told our class,"we are really in need of one or two male actors in the club, and i would be very pleased if any of you is willing to join us... And don't worry we won't overload him with work and we will only have rehearsals on Friday afternoons." Well, I figured later that we had rehearsals on Saturdays, on days off, and even over the vacation. But as I expected, no one raised a hand and eventually she had no choice than pick one of us. Suddenly, some of us, myself included, started to hide behind their desks because being involved in the Drama club was the last thing they wanted. All of us had the time to do it but none of us was willing to do it because we just thought it would be embarrassing. But my efforts to hide did not quite result in the way I wanted. She eventually picked me and somehow convinced me in a way that I just couldn't say "No!" . Well, I have to say I was chosen with my friend Lewis but he did not even bother trying and denied right away. So at the end I was left alone in a group of people I didn't know and not knowing what I was going to do at all. I felt like I was somewhere I didn't belong. I was not yet to know how things were going to turn out.

My mood did not improve as I went to my first rehearsals. I remember that year we performed "Romeo & Juliet" by William Shakespeare. What struck me first as I was reading the script was my character, Mercutio. He played a quite important role in the play. I was left stunned at the amount of scenes I would have to play. Now, I was really starting to feel worried. What's more, the actors were so much more talented than me that I just thought that I was only going to ruin their work. But despite all my fears, the directors trusted in me and tried to make me feel as much comfortable as they could. Also, one of the directors Mr. Eric knew me well because he used to be my French teacher and he kept encouraging me ," Orry, I know what you are really capable of, you have shown it to me throughout the years by the performance of poems in class and I think you will do a great job". Well, I wished I was that confident at that time. But regardless of what I was thinking, I was indeed going to play on a stage in front of five hundred people. "Wow!", did I just think.

I could have complained about the amount of work I had to do, but I chose not to, I was now decided. The terror that once gained me now turned into the motivation to overcome the challenge. So as we went further through the rehearsals, one of our directors Mr. Guy-André who was pretty strict and difficult to please told me that I was in a good progression and that just motivated me even more. And ultimately, we reached the point where we only had one day before the performance. But strangely, I wasn't feeling worried or stressed about anything. Well, for someone who is going to perform for the first time, it is quite unusual that he doesn't feel stress. I admit that it quickly changed the next day but until then I was the ready for the show.

So finally came the Thursday night we were all waiting for. To be honest, I wished the day never came so fast but here we were, ready to show what we have worked on for the whole year. I remember feeling my heartbeat increase in speed, minutes before I go on stage. As I was getting my makeup on behind the scenes, I could hear the crowd cheer our actors at the beginning of the performance. I really wondered how it felt like to be in front of them. There wasn't much time left before I find out. On a theater stage, you normally come in by its sides where there are usually curtains to hide before stepping on the actual stage. And eventually, that is where I was when I was waiting for my turn to go. It was time to go. The crowd cheered as I stepped out of the curtains. I guess some of the spectators recognized me as I was standing in front of them. Indeed, I was now standing in the spotlight acting out as a real actor. At one point, I could feel the sweat, caused by the heat of the spotlights, rushing quickly from my head to my cheeks. My heartbeats were so fast at that moment that I could not even feel them. But I had everything under control and as expected, I gave the performance people paid to see. It was actually not as bad as I thought before. For the next scenes, I went on stage with much more confidence and assurance. In fact, the hardest challenges are those we encounter for the first time. That night was fantastic and I will never forget it. How exciting that was. The feeling of having pleased people by entertaining them is great. At the end, some of them were telling me how they saw a different person than me in the show. That was the point so I guess I completed my job pretty well.

The next three years of acting had been less stressing and more enjoyable. I was now addicted. Well, it is true that I have gained more experience but I was feeling now like a real actor. I have to say that in those three years, a lot things happened. We traveled to perform up in the country which was awesome. I also starred in a an advertisement that was broadcasted on the national tv. And finally, I even got recruited by another drama club which gathered the best actors from different schools. It was the summit for me. I honestly never thought I would reach this level. The new actors were now looking up on me, probably fascinated by the way I play. As I look back to these wonderful years, I am just thankful for all the people who made all of this possible, especially my directors who pushed me all the way and encouraged me a lot. For sure I would never forget this period so full of emotions.