Maddie Kesler, 12

“I was kind of up there with the leads, and I realized hey — I’m a sophomore and I got a lead role in a Rock Ridge show. I got to sing my own song; I got to be this powerhouse up on stage, and that’s so unlike me. The way that the character dressed and acted was so unlike me, but also, everything that I want to be in a person. The character is so confident, she’s so determined, she stands up for what she believes in, she does what she loves, and she’s powerful. That is something that I want to be, and so walking out and taking that bow, I kinda realized I feel different. I feel like I can do this, that I can do anything. I just felt really powerful. I felt like I was her in that moment.”