Analee's audition

When school began this year, Analee brought home an information sheet from her choir class that talked about a singing group called Renaissance Choral Group. We saw this group perform several times last year at choir concerts. They were good and looked like they were having a lot of fun. Every year they have auditions to give students a chance to be part of the group. Analee said she was thinking about auditioning. I really encouraged her to do it. We read over the rules and the committments required. She thought about it for about two days and decided to do it. Each student had to sing a selection of "My Country Tis of Thee" and then a selection of a pop song of the student's choice. The student had to provide either a person to play piano or a karoke CD of the pop song for the audition.
In choir class, the teacher practiced "My Country Tis of Thee" several times so I wasn't worried about that one. For her own pop selection, Analee chose "Fabulous" from "High School Musical:2". I found the karoke CD and she and I worked on it throughout the week and a half before the auditions. Her only real problem was singing loud enough to be heard over the music. She can often be heard singing in her room by herself or with whatever CD is playing. She has fun singing.
The auditions were held last Thursday and the students had to sign up for an audition slot for after school. When Analee went to sign up all the slots were taken so she had to go and wait for the end. There were several other kids who had to wait also. Her audition didn't come until 6:00 p.m, about two and a half hours after school let out. It only lasted about 6-8 minutes and then she called me to come and get her. On the way home, I told her I was so proud of her for having the courage to audition. When I was her age, I never would have done something like that. Now, I regret not trying my hand at several things. She has demonstrated this kind of courage before when she tried out for the soccer team last year. None of her friends tried out with her for the soccer team or the choral group and we all know how friends can boost confidence if they are the right kind of friends. She made these decisions all on her own which is where much of my pride in her comes in.
The list of students who made the Choral group was posted last Friday, the day after the auditions. Our brave, courageous, 80 lb. Analee made the group. She made be little but she has a lot of heart. She came home on Friday, running through the door, calling for me and jumped into my arms yelling, "I made it, I made it!" I am so proud of her! Mostly I want her to know that I am so proud that she didn't let the opportunity pass her by. I hope she keeps that mentality throughout her life and that it helps her to discover and develop her talents.