It’s been a few weeks since I spent four days in beautiful Albuquerque with the amazing New Mexico Thespians! From the moment I was assigned this festival in September, I was counting down the days in my planner.
I arrived in New Mexico late morning after leaving Oregon around 3 in the morning! I was greeted warmly by Wendy Hall, one of New Mexico’s STO sponsors. There, we drove to the University of New Mexico - Albuquerque and got right to work! I worked with six fantastic STO as they planned their opening number… an epic lipsync mashup! The delegation went crazy for their performance, which transferred into amazing energy during Minute to Give It! After a fantastic opening number, we went to bed early in preparation of the big day ahead of us!
This festival was especially unique for New Mexico because of their festival size! Because they teamed up with a local one act festival, their delegation went from around 200 people to around 700!
The first two days was dedicated to workshops and IE competitions. I spent these days teaching two fantastic sessions of my leadership workshop and helping select next year’s STO. The election process was magical to be apart of, as there was so much passion in every candidate!
I was beyond lucky to spend the back half of the festival getting to know the delegation even better! As people waiting for their designated workshop sessions, I was fed story after story of students eager to join the thespian society!
New Mexico did an exceptional job embodying the theme of the week, “We Are Not Alone.” With the soon to be inducted troupes everywhere, the unity between all schools was exceptional! Unity was found in every detail in Albuquerque, from the buddy system at nights, workshops during the day, and family meal environment at the iconic restaurant, “The Frontier.” Overall, this chapter felt like a family.
Thank you, New Mexico Thespians, for allowing me to be apart of your family! I am counting down the days until I see you all in Lincoln!
Next stop, Wyoming! Be sure to keep up with my upcoming adventures on twitter @ITOTylerF, as well as Instagram and Facebook at The International Thespian Officers!
Best regards,
Tyler Fredrickson