Hi, I’m Inaki, a Grade 12 student from Duxbury House. During inter-House Air Band, I realized lots of things, like how good I look in a dress, or that I am not making it to Broadway. That’s not bound to happen when you are dazzled by the stage lights, waiting for everything to go wrong, nervous that you’ll miss, nervous that you’ll fall.

 

What is it that keeps you going? What is it that makes you feel that everything will be alright? For me, it was my audience – a simple look up that made everything go away and made it seem that maybe it wasn’t so bad after all.

 

It is often said that we all are performers, not because we do theatre or believe ourselves talented on stage. They often say we perform according to who we want to show or what we think we should show. I can tell you that I have no talent as a performer, yet I’ve been the person I wanted to be, how I wanted to be, and most importantly, where I wanted to be. If I’m a performer, I shall give credit to my audience, because they keep quiet when a joke is bad, but they also cheer if you get it right. If I were a performer, one worthy of an Oscar, I would first thank my audience because without them, I wouldn’t have had the chance to be the person I am. None of us would be the people we are today.

 

A good audience is one that is honest, understanding, and also realistic. A good audience can let any performer feel safe regardless of their role. A good audience can make people feel like being original is OK. You get to be audacious, you get to be different, you get to escape from average expectations, and sometimes, for just a brief moment, you are you.

 

Being original is certainly complicated. Sometimes it means being different. Sometimes it means rowing against the current, or running a marathon backwards. But at that point, who cares? Uniformity is comfort. It is safety. It is our little hiding spot when we fear to stand out, or when being you just gets too complicated. Every Saturday, everybody with our number-ones on, we rejoice in uniformity, all looking the same yet being so different at the same time. Maybe it’s how we look – a tie that shows who we are, what we’ve achieved. Maybe it’s something we say. Or it might just be how we act. When you have a proper audience and a proper environment, uniformity is a resource but not a shelter; but it can become a shackle that keeps us from walking freely on our path.

 

These past three years, I couldn’t have asked for a better audience. I have been happy and laughed, just as I’ve been sad and cried. I have been at my best, feeling like I’m the greatest one ever to live, and there have been moments when I felt like it was time to tap out and just go back home. There are times when you get to be surrounded by so many people but still feel lonely. I realized that it is not when we laugh and enjoy ourselves with our friends, but rather when we have to cry on their shoulder, that that friend you met once and appreciate is no longer that, they are almost your family. At that time it is true, indeed, you BELONG here.

 

Coming from Mexico, I am already 3,949 km away from home. When I came here, I was terrified. Even nowadays, sometimes I still am. I decided to give a chance to a bunch of unknown people, with the only expectation that they would make my trip worth making. At the time, it meant dipping a toe; now, it is more like I’m simply floating around. Looking back on those past two years and on my way to the third one, I can’t help but remember how scared that boy was, waiting for his new journey – a guy who was hoping for the best and expecting the worst out of his new adventure. If I’m being honest, in my third year, I think I am more scared than ever. Rather than the moment I walked through those doors for the first time, it is scary to think of the last time I’m going to get to do it.

 

These three years have been special thanks to my audience and those around me who shared the same stage I did. My friends have now turned into family because when I think of the person I am and who I got to be, a lot of that was thanks not to me but to those who cared for me. Hiding in uniformity wasn’t an option because that would have taken away from being me, being unique, and being different, which is not bad. After all, like a bag of M&M’s, they all might look different, but I’m telling you they’re all pretty damn good. Thank you.