How I found Les Misérables: Guest Post by Lauren!

Hey guys!
Okay so here is the first of hopefully many posts about how many fans found Les Mis. So here is the expirence of Lauren!

Remember if you'd like to share your expirence of how you found Les Mis, shoot me an email at sydsummergirl24601@gmail.com with a small introduction about yourself (Optional), your expirence, and your favorite Les Miserables related picture.

Over and Out!
~Sydney

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I was first introduced to Les Misérables four years ago. I was a freshman and my school did a production of it. I was cast as a lovely lady and was intent on impressing the directors for the sake of future shows. I found the story very powerful and developed a crush on the senior boy who played Javert. Unfortunately, he was already spoken for but I no matter how hard I tried, I could not shake off my feelings for this boy. He gave me the time of day, he laughed at my jokes, he never talked down to me, he did not seem to care when I said strange things, and he told me that I was doing a good job. Though it sounds juvenile now, I considered myself an Éponine. I channelled all of my emotions into my performance while still managing to be happy when he did nice things for me. However, this friendliness did not last. After the show, he found out the extent of how I felt and cruelly cut me off.
At the same time, I began to excel at my French class. My teacher told me that she saw a film version of it her own freshman year and made it her goal to read the entire novel in French by the time she graduated. This was a goal that she passed on to me.
As time went on, I continued to love the story and longed for a way to make some good memories associated with it to outweigh the heartbreak from my castmate. I continued to get better at French in hopes that I would be the first of Madame's students to accomplish her goal. The opportunity arose at the end of my junior year. My community theater announced that they would stage an all-area student production of it that summer. Since they had rejected me several times before, I was hesitant to audition, but I did and earned the role of whore #1. Soon after the casting, Madame told me that she thought I had reached the skill level to read the novel and write my Extended Essay about it in French. Though it was the biggest risk I have ever taken, I went for it and became the cast's "book expert." Both the essay and the second production turned out fantastically. I was redeemed. As a freshman I was Éponine, between my junior and senior year, I was Jean Valjean.
Each day, I try to model my life after the characters from Les Misérables. This year, a friend of mine was casted as the lead in his school's production. I made myself available as a source for any questions that he may have. Though he thought of very few, he still greatly appreciated the gesture. I grew closer and closer to my French teacher and now consider her to be my second mom. I read Notre Dame de Paris in French earlier this year and I am currently reading L'homme Qui Rit and have plans to read French literature for the rest of my life. In this way, Les Misérables has opened me up to an amazing new world and I hope that it will never leave me.