The 51st Dragon

In my High School's production of The Fiddler on the Roof I played the role of the constable. Fiddler on the Roof is a story that takes place in the jewish town of Anatevka. During the time the musical takes place many jews were being persecuted and forced to leave their homes and move to a new place. The constable is a Russian who acts as the leader of the local soldiers that are stationed in the town. Before the jews were forced to leave the constable and his men were tasked to keep the jewish people in line. Throughout the duration of the play many brawls occur between the soldiers and the towns people (one even takes place during a wedding). My character was to be stern and forceful; unsympathetic to the troubles of the jews. If you are familiar with my personality I am none of those things. I tend to be more shy and don't try to force my opinions on anyone. I am also a people pleaser and try my best to get along with anyone. While I served a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints this attribute came in handy with many of the associates that I was partnered with. We lived together and practically spent all of our time together (other than when using the bathroom of course). Being in this kind of arrangement can become rather stressful at times and it helped with the overall companionship. Now of course with this trait there was the possibility that I could be taken advantage of. So I learned to keep that attribute and defend my opinions in a way that still allowed us to have a good friendship. Sadly I didn't learn this ability until after High School. It could have helped me understand better how the constable would act. However, my teacher Nan Wharton gave me advice on how I could better portray a militant figure. I had this habit of leaning all of my weight on one leg. It wasn't something I did intentionally; it just effected the overall stern appearance of my macho facade. So, Nan encouraged me to practice putting equal weight on both legs to brake my nasty idiosyncrasy. I also practiced walking with a straight back, my chin in the air, and my arms set straight to my sides. I went into each rehearsal doing my best to perform these acts with utmost precision. Strangely enough I felt it was this act that ultimately helped me get into character. Nan always said, "practice makes permanent." The phrase practice makes permanent is what I thought of as I read about Gawaine and his dragon slaying. He didn't see himself as a dragon slayer. However, his school's headmaster saw that he could be, just like my teacher Nan saw that I could be the constable. To help Gawaine the headmaster gave him the magic word so that he would have something to believe in and focus on while battling the many dragons. The only problem is that this practice became permanent. He relied so much on this magic word that when he learned that it wasn't magic his confidence was broken and he did not know what to do. Maybe the old adage practice makes perfect was only true for the 50th time and practice makes permanent stepped in on the 51st time. The only problem is he hadn't practiced killing a dragon without the magic word. Luckily for me I did not end up like Gawaine. The advice my teacher gave me proved true in the end and I was able to perform without braking character. As our last show ended she gave me a hug and told me how proud she was of me. She knew the challenges I faced with the personality difference I had with the constable and saw me overcome it.