Personal Narrative: The New Kid

Going into the first rehearsal at the church, I didn’t know what to expect. I was curious to see what would happen when we started to sing in that huge church. I was also curious to see what it would feel like to be facing the crowd instead of being a part of it. For the past three years, I have gone to every one of my older sister Olivia’s chorus and chamber concerts. As I sat there and watched, I never really knew how hard it was to stand up there in front of the crowd and try to focus on not messing up. That was until this year

Being the new kid, in a school where it is easy to be another face in the crowd, is hard. During my first few years of high school, I didn't attend converse as I have nearly my entire life. I was enrolled in Parkway, a school in Bossier. The school was so much bigger than what I was used to and I felt overwhelmed. I was lost as to where to go the first two weeks since each class was on a different floor and hallway. My classes were so difficult, too! I was used to testing high scores, with little to no effort. There, was another story. I was average. In my honor classes, I was so behind on what I needed to know, and the teachers were going a mile per minute. Their tone of voice could make you feel stupid for even asking a single question on a difficult problem. I didn't necessarily dislike any of them, but I did have my favorite teacher.

"I’m so nervous,” I complained to my mom as we walked into the Waukesha Civic Theatre. “What if I’m not good enough. I haven’t even prepared that much!” It was a crisp September day and some leaves had already started changing color. On the way home from school my mom told me about a play that the theater puts on near us every year and thought I would be good for it. Since I had only heard about the audition that day, it gave me a few hours to pick my song and be prepared for whatever part they wanted me to read. The next song that came on the radio was the song “Edge of Glory” by Lady GaGa and because it was in my vocal range I thought it would be good for me. Little did I know that this audition would change my view of theater.

Smiling to myself at the memory, I thought of how much I had grown since that audition. I remembered the concerts I had performed in, the choirs I had tried out for, the sectionals I had lead. My growing confidence in my musical abilities had spilled over into other areas of my life, too: I spoke more in class and I no longer hesitated to try new things. I fondly glanced around the chorus room one last time, mentally absorbing every detail. I closed the door behind me, not feeling like running anymore, and strode the rest of the way down the hall, moving on to the next stage of my

In my eighth grade year at Sierra Middle School Ms. Anderson, the drama teacher, announced that our school would be performing the musical “Oklahoma.” Although I had never seen the musical, I knew that it was widely known, and I had a lot of enthusiasm. Auditions finally rolled around, and I auditioned for the three female ‘leads’ (truly the lead is different depending on how each of the parts are portrayed): Laurey, Ado Annie and Aunt Eller. After almost three days of stressful waiting I grabbed my friend

The cast list for the upcoming spring play was finally posted. We had been waiting anxiously for it and there it was. Audition day was the most nerve-wracking experience I had ever had as a freshman in high school. I wanted everything perfect so when I completely froze and forgot the next part of my monologue, you can imagine how terrified I was. From that moment on, it was prayer and improvisation. As I continued to scan for my name, my hands were shaking uncontrollably. I made it. I do not think any freshman girl could have been more excited than me at the moment. I felt so accomplished. The first rehearsal was incredible but little did I know what great blessing God had hidden in this entire experience.

I began screaming my head off, ultimately waking up my entire household. I can remember the beating of my heart, sweaty palms and shaky voice. Reality then began to sink in that the musical would be on my shoulders. In that moment I began to doubt myself. I only had the experience of two plays and being in the ensemble of a musical. Could I do this? And even so how did come they chose someone like me? A million negative thoughts began running through my head, and looking back, those thoughts motivated me to work my hardest in order to prove that I belonged. Taking that last bow on the transformed stage changed my life

The growing up process is all about messing up and learning from your mistakes. I don’t think the amount of mistakes you’ve made determines your character but rather how you learn and grown from them. People tend to learn a whole lot during the teenage years and I certainly did.There were a few situations in particular that I definitely think I learned from.

During my first week of high school, I had a sign on my back that said, “New kid, look at me!” At least, it seemed that way from the glances that came my way. I knew a couple of girls from previous soccer team I had been on, but none of them were in the classes I was attending. At that moment, I had no desire but to open my mouth and introduce myself. I was in eighth grade, and it was Farmington Public School systems that turned my life around, for the best.

Becoming the new kid all over again. Getting looked down upon. Not knowing my way around the school. Officially becoming responsible for my own actions.

It was May, two years ago. I walked into a room filled with girls, each accompanied by their mom or dad. My mom, dressed in a nice sweater and black pants, pulled me up to a table with a woman sitting in front of it. This woman looked in her 30’s and was wearing a light blue dress. She said “Please fill out this form and feel free to take a seat while you wait.” My mother dragging me along, walked to another table and sat down. I proceeded to sit next to her. It was obvious I was nervous. My sister stood next to my chair telling me I was going to do fine. This was the first time I had auditioned for The Fulton Theater.

When middle school started I joined the chorus. I began spending more of my time practicing and trying to become a better singer. Towards the end of eight grade year, a performing arts high school was to come to our school to hold auditions. Every day for the following weeks I would stay after school to practice for my audition with the help of my chorus teacher. When the day of the audition came I knew I wasn't ready and I was exhausted from practicing. I could tell by the look on the judge’s face my performance did not go well but I still had

Although it is nothing new to me, risking on stage is something everyone struggles with. Improv pushed me out of my comfort zone, performance poetry left me vulnerable, and singing live at seven a.m. is a singer's worst nightmare. Despite initial fears, I’d say the performances went pretty well. Performance poetry was difficult. I didn’t quite have the most harmonious group. But I am glad we were able to go and preach what we did I had an absolute BLAST during the musical theatre festival. I worked my butt off to go on stage, back to booth, on stage, back to the booth, and for six hours straight. There were many technical difficulties, and I never want to hear “Sincerely Me” again, but I had a blast while performing the number I did from Book Of Mormon. My only regret is that I may have spread myself too thin. That number had so much more potential, but I had to sacrifice so much of my rehearsal time to work on lights. I’m just glad I was able to make everyone happy as best I could. I just had to do what was best for the class as a

When I attended the first rehearsal, I did not know what to expect. I never thought I could sing, but I could dance relatively well; however, I was pretty sure I was not going to be welcome. Even on the first day, I felt the eyes of stereotypical expectation and rudimentary surprise. Yet the stage called my name all the while, so I stayed – never really being aware of what would come next.

I’d had that nervous feeling in my stomach since that morning. The anticipation of the final performance of the day. Earlier that day we had played as guests for two other churches. I don’t know why but I have always found it less nerve wracking to play for people I don’t know than to play for people who know me. So while the nerves had been there all day, the anticipation was only mounting as the time neared for us to play for the Christmas Program at our church. Another reason for my apprehension was the fact that not only was I debuting two new and advanced pieces, but I had also been playing for much less time than all the other youth that would participating in this program.