On June 21, five members of the Lake Central Theatre Company embarked on a nine hour bus ride to Lincoln, Nebraska, for the International Thespian Festival, a weeklong celebration of high school theater.

“[Meeting thespians from across the country] was eye opening because there are people everywhere who love the same thing you do. [You are] finding your family you never knew existed,” Nichole Heusmann (12) said.

Each day, students at the festival attended workshops to gain more knowledge about acting, costumes, makeup, lighting, sound and other technical positions.

“By far my best [workshop] was ‘How to Nail an Audition.’ We were given information of head shots for our resumes, what to wear for the audition, and to act like we owned the room,” Monique Ochoa (12) said.

During the week, some students competed in individual events, including monologue, duet acting, and short film. On June 27, the best students from each category were featured in the National Individual Event Showcase. Martha Mapes (12) earned the privilege of showing her short film.

“I felt really honored because there were so many great films at Nationals, but mine was the one being shown. I was backstage for the showing, but I was able to hear the audience react to my movie. It was awesome to hear my hard work being paid off,” Mapes said.