By Amelie Petit
Most of the seniors who went to Wales with SGC write about it in their senior essay, and I am no different. We were running on 5 hours of sleep at best, I had eaten at least 3 power bars in the past 2 hours, and it was 90 degrees out. To most people this would sound like a situation designed specifically to torment them, but we were undeterred. We had lined up to walk on stage, grabbed hands and whispered “I love you, pass it on” to the chorister behind us in line (a tradition from previous SGC tours), walked on stage with various levels of grace (I, for one, almost tripped on the hem of my dress), and took our places. It was the open competition, which meant that we were singing “Chorus from Shelley’s ‘Hellas’”, easily the hardest piece we took to Wales. Despite the mild panic that surged throughout the choir for the entire song, it was one of the best performances we had ever done. I remember getting to a long held section at the very end of the song with the lyric “the sapphire sea”, and I felt us relax all at once. This type of moment is so unique to choir singing. There is absolutely nothing like it.
I’ve been procrastinating on writing this essay for weeks at this point. Trying to write about the impact SGC has had on my life is difficult, considering that I’ve been in this choir for far longer than I’ve been out. SGC provided me with a structure that I could depend on when I couldn’t depend on just about anything else, one of my best friends, most of my important childhood memories, and of course, the most beautiful music. Choir taught me that everyone is important, and that I have inherent worth and deserve to be listened to. It taught me leadership and to always try my best because I didn’t want to let my friends down. I was going to say that I hope that future choristers learn the same lessons that I did, but I’m positive that they will, because that’s just how SGC is.
Thank you all so much for being such an important force in my life, I am so grateful that I was able to be a part of this community. I’m very sad that I never got a final Carmina or Spring Concert, but am so incredibly excited to finally see everyone sing in person and step up to sing “Personent Hodie” at Town Hall.
I love you, pass it on.