September 1

Today was my first day as a student of IB Theater at American International School of Riyadh. I was nervous about what would happen, as it was my first theater class of the year, and on top of that I am taking theater as a HL course as well. I had heard it was a very rigourous class, so I was anxious to what the course would include and what the expectations would be. But as soon as we all got settled on our seats in class, Mrs. Morris made us complete ice breaker activites that really helped me get comfortable with all the students and with the class itself. We played a fun game called "Honey I love you but I really can't smile," in which one person standing in the middle of a circle of people has to try to make one of the people standing in the cirlce smile, and if the person succeeds, the person who smiled has to switch with the person in the middle and the game continues. We also played another game, similar to "Kitty wants a corner" called "Neighbor," in which one person standing in the middle of a circle of people sitting in chairs has to go up to a person and ask if he/she likes his/her neighbors. If the person says yes, the two people next to him must try to switch while the person standing also tries to sit on one of the now empty chairs. Whoever is left without a chair has to continue the game by going up to another person and asking the same question. The person who has been asked also has the option of saying no, but in that case he/she has to say instead, "No I don't like my neighbors, but I do like..." and whoever in the circle likes that thing must get up and try to find another chair to sit on. Both of these activities helped everyone get comfortable and interested in the class, and it brought out the individual personalities of everyone. In the beginning I did not want to make people I did not know laugh or switch chairs with them, but eventually I got comfortable with all my classmates and I realized that theater is all about opening yourself up to new people and therefore new possibilites. Therefore, my social skills definitely improved as a result of this class. I had a lot of fun today, and I look forward to the rest of the year of IB Theater with my class and Mrs. Morris.