I had the pleasure of spending the last weekend at the Montana State Thespian Conference. There was some infectious enthusiasm offered by the Montana Thespians throughout the event that added a special buzz to the weekend. The conference was at Montana State University in Missoula, which sits in the valley of a mountain range. The sights were truly breathtaking. Although I did see a mountain for the first time, the biggest thing there was the amount of passion beaming from all those who attended.
In the morning of day one I had the opportunity to help the Montana State Thespian Officers raise money for scholarships through an STO table that was set up. The table had some pretty terrific theatre merch along with plenty of rubber ducks. Thespians could buy a duck that had a name with it, and then they would have to find their duck match. For example, there was a "Spongebob" and "Patrick" pair, and a "Elder Price" and "Elder Cunningham" pair. This proved to be a fun way to get to know someone new!
All throughout the first day there were one act plays performed by various high schools around Montana. It was wonderful that so many students had the opportunity to show off their talents. In the evening of day one there was beautiful banquet. Everyone dressed in formal attire, it was quite classy. Several scholarships and awards were given out during the banquet, and the Montana Thespians did not hold back their spirit when supporting their troupe mates. It is always one of my favorites things to see thespians offered money as an extra boost to pursue their dreams. What a lovely night it was.
The second day was just as fun, if not more fun than the first. I was able to share my leadership workshop "How To Knock on Opportunity's Door" during one of the workshop sessions. The thespians who attended really came in keen to improve their leaderships abilities! Also, I went out for smoothies with the STO that day. I really appreciated their kindness and friendship they offered me throughout the weekend. The day ended with the "Thespian Olympics." These entailed of two events, a tongue twister event and a "Death by..." event. Each troupe had one thespian share two tongue twisters in front of the whole conference, and many of them were so fun and silly. The "Death by..." event had a thespian from each troupe perform a skit where they died from a creative cause. Some of those causes displayed that evening included "Death by Sour Milk," "Death by Dress Rehearsal," and "Death by Public Speaking." All of the skits performed were absolutely hilarious!
Montana really offered me a joyful conference. The people were extremely kind and welcoming. I relished spending time with the thespians there. Both the mountains and hearts of Montana were truly beautiful.