Misconceptions About Choirs

I don’t fail often. I tend to be good at the things I attempt, usually with little or no effort on my part. I don’t say this to brag about how lucky I am, but to give context. Since I don’t fail often and am generally used to success, the times I have failed make a prodigious impression on me. I am a choir kid. I love singing and choreography and making music. So it made sense that I wanted to try out for show choir in sixth grade, along with about eighty percent of my choir class. For this choir audition you had to learn a song and a corresponding dance in three short practices and then perform it with three other applicants in front of the choir teachers. The song was “Livin’ on a Prayer” by Bon Jovi, which I recognized vaguely. However, the …show more content…
A couple groups went before me, but my turn came up very quickly. Suddenly I realized how much I didn’t know. Every dance step I wasn’t sure on and every note I didn’t know came rushing at me in a tidal wave of uncertainty. But I was shuffled on stage with the rest of the auditioning girls and the judges told us we could start. I messed up. Over and over and over again I messed up, bumbling into the other girls and singing notes that were not only wrong, but much too quiet as well. However, I thought I did okay, and went back home to hear the verdict. A few days later, the list was posted on the door outside the choir room. My name was not on it. The teacher told us that if we wanted to talk to her civilly about why we did not make show choir, we could meet her in her office after class. I joined the line of students that wanted answers, and the teacher told me that I didn’t sing out enough. A fair point, I supposed, but the disappointment crushed me anyway. I failed my first show choir audition. The takeaway from that failure was a fact about myself. I can do a lot of things without trying. But if I really want it, it is better for me to try