Select a creative work: a novel, a film, a poem, a musical piece, a painting or other work of art that has influenced the way you view the world and the way you view yourself.

When I was thirteen years old, the summer between eighth and ninth grades, a friend of mine sent me a copy of the song “Over The Moon,” from the broadway musical RENT. I thought it was a good, funny song, and listened to it often, but never took more than a passing interest in the show itself. The next summer, I read in the newspaper that the touring cast of RENT was to be coming to my hometown, El Paso. I’ve always loved theatre, musical theatre especially, so I was thrilled by the idea of being able to see a real broadway show, especially one that I already liked so much. Once I made my mother promise to buy me tickets, I figured that it would be a good idea to find out more about the show. I got online, read every synopsis of the show I could find, and downloaded a few of the songs. I found out about the life of Jonathan Larson, who wrote the lyrics, music, and libretto for the show. That was when the obsession truly began. The story engrossed me. It’s based on Puchinni’s La Boheme, but RENT is more of a character based show. All the characters were all so extrodinarily interesting, from Mark, the filmmaker who serves as the narrator of the show, to Roger, his HIV+ ex-junkie musician friend. The show chronicles a year in the life of the group of friends, and I the story pulled me in everytime I listened to the music. Will everyone live through the year? Will all their relationships survive? The music itself is amazing, using different styles. Some of the songs are rock, some are gospel, some sound more like traditional show tunes, and one of them is even a tango.

I was affected most by Jonathan Larson’s story, though. The show is based largely on his own life as a young artist trying to make it in New York City. When the show first opened off-broadway in 1996, it recieved a lot of buzz. On the night of the final dress rehearsal, January 25, Jonathan, who had been feeling poorly all week, collapsed in his apartment from an aortic aneurysm. By the time his roommate found him, it was too late. The opening was almost canceled, but the cast and crew knew that Jon would have wanted them to carry on. The show recieved much critical acclaim, moved to Broadway, and eventually won the 1996 Tony Award for Best Musical.

The main theme of the show is “No day but today,” a saying by which Jonathan lived by, the characters in the show live by, and which every RENT fan, including myself, tries to live by. As the chorus of the song Another Day goes, “There’s only us/There’s only this/Forget regret/Or life is yours to miss.” My life is like that of every other high school senior, with lots of silly drama that won’t matter at all in a few years. I try not to let the petty things bother me, though. Will holding a grudge for something trivial really accomplish anything? I want to live the best life I can, because as humans, we’re only given so much time to do what we can. Though the mantra of “No day but today” is used in the show by Life Support, a group for people who are HIV+, it is something that can be applied to all of our lives.