One of the best feelings as a musician is hearing the sound of applause after you perform. One of the first times I sang on a big stage was my freshman year of high school. Every year my high school would put on a spring show at an auditorium. For years I had watched some of my older siblings perform in the show but now was my time. I wanted to sing and play my ukulele but I was too nervous to sing alone. I had done gigs before, but never in front of an entire audience of people from my school. As a performer I find it much easier to perform in front of strangers than people I know.
Auditions to enter into the show were a little over a month away. I almost convinced myself not to try out because I was so nervous. One day while sitting in choir class I noticed the girl sitting next to me sounded very good. She had a similar tone of voice as me and could carry a tune well. I didn’t know her well but I was desperate to find someone to sing with. I decided to ask if she would sing in the show with me. At first she seemed reluctant because we weren’t very close, but she agreed to do it. When we first met up to practice it was a little awkward. We didn’t know much about each other besides that we both liked to sing. After a few weeks of practicing we started to become really close. Before we knew it we started to become best friends.
The day had come. It was time to audition for the show. We were a little nervous, but relieved that we had each other supporting one another. The next day the audition results were posted. We made it into the biggest performance that my school hosts. At first we were so excited, but then reality set in. We would actually be singing in front of at least 400 students from our school. When the day came to perform on stage, all the nerves set in. We could see all of the familiar faces as we peeked through the curtains. When the curtains finally opened we sang our hearts out. After we finished there was a split second before the crowd began to applaud. In that split second I knew that all our hard work had paid off. The feeling of hearing people cheer for me is a feeling I can never forget. That is the kind of feeling that you want repeated. After that day I decided to look past all of my nerves that come when performing. Now I can go on a stage without being terrified. I am grateful that I pushed myself out of my comfort zone. Without doing so I would not be able to perform as confidently as I do now.
Music by Kori Kay 