Good Evening Everyone!

I hope you are all well tonight! Thank you so much for coming out to support my school and my fellow Tritons’ education. Before I get too far in, my name is Caroline Broberg. I’m a senior here at Notre Dame. I’m involved in student government, drama, art, and the various language clubs we have at school. 

I’m a part of our show choir and music ministry, too. I am also a proud cast member of the Notre Dame Musical. I played the Wicked Witch in this year’s production of The Wizard of Oz, so if I look a little green, don’t worry. It’ll come off in a few days. It was a bit jarring how many times people asked me if I was feeling okay, though. 

All my life, I struggled to find out what I was passionate about. I played future Notre Dame basketball for about 8 years. I also played volleyball for 5. I took choir for 3 years, and now I’ve only been singing well for a couple of years, but back then, I had been singing since I could talk. Then I got to high school and realized if I enjoyed music and singing, I could audition for the musical. 

It was at this moment that I found out I had to choose between basketball and the musical. Something old and familiar that I knew I was good at, or something new and intimidating, something I could easily fail at. As you can probably guess, I chose the musical, even though I can still shoot a mean 3-pointer, and don’t even get me started on my blocks. 

The decision to do the musical changed my life, and thanks to donations like yours, Notre Dame was able to support the arts. Our school is really special in that way. Our athletes come to support our artists, and vice versa. There is no real divide between the two. Many guys roll right from the football season into the musical. 

My high school career has been comprised of many amazing shows; we did The Little Mermaid, Annie, Freaky Friday, and The Wizard of Oz.  Musical theater, and the people involved in the program, have taught me a lot about myself.  The Little Mermaid taught me that if you want something, you have to work to get it. Annie taught me that a little hope and optimism can go a long way, and sometimes approaching the world with a child-like innocence is the best, and that giving people grace can be beneficial for everyone. Freaky Friday showed me the importance of family and their support, and that empathy and looking at life through someone else’s eyes can teach you more about the world than any textbook ever could. And, of course, The Wizard of Oz taught me about the importance of remembering your roots and staying true to yourself. There truly is no place like home, or in my case, Notre Dame. 

Theater, in general, has taught me that there is nothing wrong with who I am, that I am not too much or too little, but I was just not surrounding myself with the right people. I am relatively tall for my age and gender, and I always have been. This was something I was always insecure about. I have always felt like I don’t look like the other girls around me, or that because I looked different, I would shrink myself down in pictures to make myself look “normal” in comparison to the other people in the picture. This resulted in me feeling ugly or different. 

Now, if you’ve ever had a good director, you would know that one of the main pointers that you will get is “stand up straight!” Anyone in the theater knows your posture matters. Standing tall conveys less nervousness, puts less pressure on your diaphragm, so your breath support is better, and it makes you feel more powerful. Lucky for me, I had an amazing director–Andrea Gilson–who told me immediately to stand up tall and hold my head up with pride. Though I was embarrassed at first, towering over the male lead–sorry Prince Eric– I slowly began to feel better about being tall on stage. Now I think nothing of standing upright in pictures or on stage. 

Theater gave me the confidence to say here I am, and I’m not going to change for the world. It allowed me to be unapologetically myself, and after all, that’s what the theater is: raw, authentic, unashamedly vulnerable, and above all else, it is built on community and support. I hope my standing tall can help others do the same because if it weren’t for theater, I may have had to lower this mic a bit more, and our staff works hard enough as is, without having to worry about me. Once again, I must say, thank you for your time and coming out to support Notre Dame, and get home safely.

–Photo credit to Autumn Aschinger ’28