Santa Fe trip [African chorus]

Singing has been my hidden interest since I was a kid. But I was always so insecure because there are so many other good singers than me.  However, being in UWC taught me how to express myself better without having to think about other people's opinions. As the new semester approaching, I decided to try the audition to get in into African Chorus. It is not part of my official exed but I still wanted to be part of it. Eventually, I got in and shortly after the announcement we have to prepare for our first event of the year. Not everyone will be performing, therefore the leader selects the team and surprisingly I am part of that. Throughout the semester, there are two more events but because of the hassle of being a second year and a lot of assignments, I choose not to be part of the team and let other new members experience it. So this first event is the one and only participation I will be doing as a part of the African Chorus this semester. Even by choosing not to participate gave me learning opportunities to identifies my priority during that time which helps me grow even further.  Nevertheless, the event will be in Santa Fe and we are performing in front of hundreds of people in an event named Journalist Under Fire. During the preparation, a couple of things happens which I want to reflect on this post. 

All the rehearsal has shown me how crucial it is to work as a team. It may be obvious because we are a choir but throughout the rehearsal, the leaders told us repeatedly how coherency and dynamic as a group is much important than just singing as loud as you could as an individual. I do not understand at first how these choir works as I am new to this work environment. When the leaders record our practice and play it to the whole group, it does sounds different. I became aware of the importance of creating a melody and unison instead of trying to sing my best outdoing the group performance. Near the end of the week, we only have one day before the actual performance. At this moment I recognize how hard the leader has worked for us to try to gather for rehearsal and preparing the costumes for us and everything. I am thankful for their hard work. 

We as a group have successfully performed the best performance we could ever do. After the performance ends and applause from the audience started to be present, I recalled the memories and dedication we all have put to have a rehearsal almost every day for a full week. These moments will never be forgotten as my first ever project with African Chorus.