I was in Mr. Sup’s English class in seventh grade. We had been working long and hard on our spring assignment, which happened to be skits. I was very excited for the project. There was no theatre program at Hillside that year, so I was overjoyed to get the opportunity to perform at school. 

Our skit was based off of a graphic novel rendition of Nancy Drew. Our group worked hard on constructing the props and setting, even making a fake cigarette for one of the characters, which I’m sure our teacher was less than pleased about. Finally, the day came for us to put on our skit. 

During one of the scenes, I decided it would be natural for my character to pick up the coffee cup on the table in front of us. I didn’t think anything of it, and as the dialogue unfolded, I threw my hands into the air to portray my character’s anger. 

The next thing I knew, I was surrounded by thumbtacks, pouring out of the coffee cup and landing everywhere. I watched in horror as my classmates witnessed my downfall. This was not how it was supposed to go. 

I quickly scrambled to put all the tacks back into the mug while my teacher announced a brief intermission. I guess that is one way to leave an impression. The moral of the story is, always make sure what you’re throwing isn’t going to cause any damage.