What I Learned: Judging a High School Acting Competition

Full disclosure: 
I was a TOTAL drama geek in High School.

I'll give you a moment to recover from the shock of that statement.

In spite of my geekdom, I was really lucky to have an incredibly talented and super cool drama teacher.
She's the kind who you thank in an Oscar speech and actually hope you run into in public.
I've been lucky to keep in touch with her over the years, and when she called me a week ago asking if Jake and I would be judges at the southern-state High School acting festival, I agreed without hesitation.

It was a big learning experience for me, especially considering I've been out of High School for (oh god) almost 8 years (woah.)

Here's What I Learned:

• Always be kind
• I hate Arthur miller
• My boyfriend is a stud (Which I already knew, but always fun to be reminded when he's squealed about)
• Musicals are food for the soul no matter how shitty the production quality is
• Despite their weird corporate right-wing ownership, Forever 21 has saved millions of American teenage girls from the fate of the weirdo that I suffered, and for that I am eternally grateful
• Fully commit to everything you agree to
• Think outside the box
• Some things never change
• No one should EVER pantomime without years of impeccable training. And maybe not even then.
• People are a product of their environment
• You never know what the future will bring
• Every single person who says that Arts funding should be cut should be FORCED to spend a day at a High School arts festival
• There is truly no such thing as objectivity
• It's kind of frightening who they let teach
• It's kind of frightening who they let procreate
• Take Risks
• Things have changed a lot since I was in HS
• I never thought I'd relate to Paula Abdul
• Never Say Never
• Stay in touch with people who are important to you
• Really listen and pay attention to people
• Caffeinate
• I'm so glad I'm not 16 anymore