EDWARDS — Art imitates life, and Vail Christian High School's "Becoming" is a delightful journey of self discovery fueled high school hijinks.

VCHS senior Rob Hixon and junior Megan Collom co-wrote it.

Hixon wrote and staged his first play for last year's winter show, "Changed By The Story," about a bunch of people stuck in a subway car together. It was a huge hit.

Collom wanted to get involved, so she and Hixon decided to co-write this year's play.

"We always wanted to do one together. Megan is a wonderful writer," Hixon said.

To write well, you write about what you know about. Hixon and Collom drew inspiration from some of their Vail Christian High School teachers, creating something teachers and everyone else could relate to, and also laugh at, Collom said.

"We wanted to create a show that reaches everyone, that had a character or a scene that everyone could relate to," Hixon said.

This is Hixon's last work here. He's graduating early to take an internship with a Los Angeles production company.

Semester of enlightenment

"Becoming" opens in August, with the beginning of a new semester.

The teacher, Amber Martin, (Megan Collom) is new and has all sorts of lofty ideas about the glories of education and how her appreciative students will hang on her every word. They don't.

The students are cranky and test every limit in every way, as students will, dedicated to first class fun-having and sliding by while learning nothing. They do … learn and have fun.

The two sides settle on a semester-long game of dare. The teacher maneuvers the students into community service projects, which breaks them out of their insular shells and introduces them to a world that's not all Wonder bread and wonderful.

"They have these profound moments when they realize that the world is bigger than they thought, followed by, 'Hey! Let's go toilet paper the principal's house!" Hixon said.

"For every community service act the students do, they get to dare Amber to do something," Collom said.

The students dare the teacher to expand her worldview … to put it delicately. By the time the semester wraps up and Christmas break rolls around, both their lives and themselves have changed.

"Everyone is hiding something. By Christmas they are no more secrets," said Sam Jaffe. Jaffe plays Perry, the homeless guy, whose best friend is rich.

There's a mean substitute, Miss Bunyon, played convincingly by sophomore Beka Gersenhoff, who also plays Sammy, Amber's best friend, and a bit of a hippie.

Isabelle Carlson, a senior, plays two parts: a good mom, and a bad alcoholic mom.

Carlson has been part of Vail Christian shows since she was about 4 years old. Her two older sisters attended VCHS.

"When they needed a tiny child, they volunteered me," Carlson said.

"Becoming" is a realization that no matter what we are, we should be striving to become more.

Staff Writer Randy Wyrick can be reached at 970-748-2935 and rwyrick@vaildaily.com.