It was an insanely hot Tuesday afternoon, and I was rushing out of school to get to the sound check on time. I was about to sing the national anthem for a huge baseball game, and no amount of practice could have made me think I was ready for this.
I had just run two miles at school, and was jumping in the car to change into my uniform. After 30 minutes of the longest car ride ever, I had finally arrived at the majestic Oakland coliseum. I spotted a few other choristers dressed in my red polo and followed them up the ramp to a little concrete plaza in front of the entrance. We all gathered there and started practicing- we warmed up our voices, got our pitches straight, and ran through the song one more time. Afterwards, we had some time to kill so we all sand our favorite song Heaven Somewhere. However, halfway through the song, everything went dark. I started to lose my balance and even though I tried to stand up straight, I knew how much I was bumping into the other singers next to me. Our conductor immediately noticed that I wasn't singing along as usual and asked me if I was okay.
"No." I weakly replied. I knew I wasn't and I was going to take any help that I could get. I was escorted away from the group and into a shady staircase nearby, where my dad came to me with what seemed like magic to me- a big cold bottle of Lemon-Lime Gatorade. I drank nearly half of it while I was reassuring my friends that I was better now and that I could still sing. ( fainting is not as glamorous as it seems- I was fully aware of my actions!)
We went through security and eventually found our way to the forest green seats. When it was time for us to have our sound check, we all formed a single line in a long indoor corridor with bright yellow walls. From there, we made our way down to the field and proceeded to sing. Since the game wouldn't start for another two hours, I decided to look at the stores and restaurants above our seating. I ate some dinner, drank some more Gatorade and made sure to stay rested before our big performance.
One last time, we made our way back to the onion ring smelling corridor and elegantly walked to our stage. Luckily it had cooled down and I was greeted with a fresh breeze and a sea of new faces. When we started singing, we felt an new sense of bonding- many of us new to this group of people and the rest all open to change. My personal favorite part of this song was when we held the notes of "free" in the last sentence. Every single one of us had laser sharp focus on our notes and it was a very powerful moment for both us and the audience. The long echo after added to our satisfaction too! Even though this wasn't the first time I had sung at an A's game, every year I have a new experience. I am so excited to do it again next year and many more years to come!
I had just run two miles at school, and was jumping in the car to change into my uniform. After 30 minutes of the longest car ride ever, I had finally arrived at the majestic Oakland coliseum. I spotted a few other choristers dressed in my red polo and followed them up the ramp to a little concrete plaza in front of the entrance. We all gathered there and started practicing- we warmed up our voices, got our pitches straight, and ran through the song one more time. Afterwards, we had some time to kill so we all sand our favorite song Heaven Somewhere. However, halfway through the song, everything went dark. I started to lose my balance and even though I tried to stand up straight, I knew how much I was bumping into the other singers next to me. Our conductor immediately noticed that I wasn't singing along as usual and asked me if I was okay.
"No." I weakly replied. I knew I wasn't and I was going to take any help that I could get. I was escorted away from the group and into a shady staircase nearby, where my dad came to me with what seemed like magic to me- a big cold bottle of Lemon-Lime Gatorade. I drank nearly half of it while I was reassuring my friends that I was better now and that I could still sing. ( fainting is not as glamorous as it seems- I was fully aware of my actions!)
We went through security and eventually found our way to the forest green seats. When it was time for us to have our sound check, we all formed a single line in a long indoor corridor with bright yellow walls. From there, we made our way down to the field and proceeded to sing. Since the game wouldn't start for another two hours, I decided to look at the stores and restaurants above our seating. I ate some dinner, drank some more Gatorade and made sure to stay rested before our big performance.
One last time, we made our way back to the onion ring smelling corridor and elegantly walked to our stage. Luckily it had cooled down and I was greeted with a fresh breeze and a sea of new faces. When we started singing, we felt an new sense of bonding- many of us new to this group of people and the rest all open to change. My personal favorite part of this song was when we held the notes of "free" in the last sentence. Every single one of us had laser sharp focus on our notes and it was a very powerful moment for both us and the audience. The long echo after added to our satisfaction too! Even though this wasn't the first time I had sung at an A's game, every year I have a new experience. I am so excited to do it again next year and many more years to come!
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