The Finale

Saturday was the grand finale of theater camp.

I can't call it "drama camp" anymore, because my daughter sighs, rolls her eyes, and says, "Mo-om, it's not *drama* camp, it's THEATER camp", in all of her best dramatics.

Saturday all of the students got to show off what they've learned.

I was completely blown away by how much they learned in 3 weeks! My daughter was dancing, singing, and had lines memorized.

Of course, her true self really shined when she got to boss around the boys on stage for not remembering their cue :-)

Now she's watching the video of her show over and over again, and wants to watch it alone, unencumbered by adults, full of her own thoughts and her own dreams.

She's spent the days since drawing, writing, and even composing music. I'm watching my little budding artist and wondering what her interests will be in a year, 5 years, 15 years. Our girl scout meeting on sunday focused on "Careers". A year ago if you asked her what careers she was interested in, she listed "Teacher" and "Scientist" at the top of that list. Now she's got "Movie Star" in that list, along with "Art Teacher", and "Scientist" didn't make her final cut. "Chef" has also dropped off her wishlist, too.

I remember those days, when I could dream of what lay ahead, when anything was possible. I try to remember what was on that list, and over the years "Writer" and "Teacher" and eventually "Journalist" made it on that list. Pretty sure the word "Statistician" was not even in my vocabulary. I remember the mimeograph paper and how good it smelled. I remember setting up my "classroom" and creating math tests for my dolls to take. I've been a teacher, and I've been a journalist for my high school paper. At what point does money take precedence over dreams? I've always thought people were crazy for chunking a high-paying position and following their dreams, of acting, of writing, of teaching... but deep down inside I've always admired their courage, and wished I had that same confidence.

I will always look at my daughter and her activities and wonder if that's the thing she'll love to do forever, if that's what she'll do for a living when she is older. I can sit right along next to her as she explores her world, and dream, too.