Patrick Weber’s story with The Gift began as a scrawny high schooler at Notre Dame College Prep—part of the very first GiftEd ensemble, a motley crew of teens and their fearless leader Lindsey Barlag Thornton. They’d gather at Gift to learn all they could and train with Gift ensemble members. And eat pizza and laugh in a cozy theater that felt like home. A few days, months and years later Patrick found himself at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign where he earned his BFA in Acting. After graduating in 2019 he returned home to the Northwest Side of Chicago. Shortly after the world pressed pause. For the next couple years, the only “acting” Patrick did was when his friends at the Gift asked him to participate in a zoom reading of a new play in the works. When the fog lifted in summer 2022, Patrick landed in the Arizona desert cast in the original production of How to Make an American Son directed by Kimberly Senior. After a few months in the sandbox, he returned home because, you remember that zoom play reading mentioned during the foggy times? He was cast in the original production of The Locusts written by, cohort buddy, Jennifer Rumberger and directed by John Gawlik. In the room, being directed by someone he grew up admiring and exploring alongside actors he dreamed of emulating was a gift. After that he did various little projects, escapades, and adventures. Coolest of which involved a terrifyingly fun hour of improv playing in You and Me with Gift’s co-founder Michael Patrick Thornton. He has popped up in some tv episodes. Some feature films. Laughed and cried. Grew up and down. Moved forward and back. Stumbling into gifts along the path-strange, wild, exquisite things, each one utterly unlike the one before. Being invited to join the Gift ensemble was one such treasure. Now, here I am, typing this-my own story for the ensemble’s page. Talking in the first person, because finishing in the third would be like speaking your own dream with another’s voice. I’ve never known why we start them in third person to begin with. But that’s not the wonder, the real wonder is this: Once, at 15, I watched the Gift as if peering through glass at superheroes, larger than legend, separate from myself. Now the glass is gone; now, I’m inside the story. There’s a quiet delight in finding myself here, heart buoyant and ready. Stepping through a door into a theater that still feels like home.