The Trip Paper Dilemma by Amanda

The Trip Paper Dilemma by Amanda - November 2019 Scholarship Essay

Looking back on my high school career, choir has always been something that I’ve taken and been passionate about. I’ve been involved all three years here at Northridge, and three years at my junior high as well. At Northridge I am a member of Excalibur, Chatelaines, and A‘Capella. Being in audition choirs comes along with a lot of memories and experiences, but I would like to share an experience that has stuck out to me the most.
Every year in the spring, the audition choirs here at Northridge and the band department plan an out of state trip where we get a chance to compete, get adjudicated, and go to clinics with professional musicians. It’s a great opportunity to learn, perfect our songs, and have fun. But in order to go on said trip, we have to get a majority vote with parent permission. So the PTA sends home a permission slip to see if the parents are in favor of it and see if the numbers add up. We had a specific date to turn in all the permission slips, and when the time came Excalibur members didn’t turn enough papers in to be eligible for going on the trip. This was really sad for my choir because most of us are seniors and worked hard to get into this choir that does well in competition. Our teacher Mrs. Marden said that the presidency could have an opportunity to represent the class and go talk to the administration and plead our case.
In the show choir Excalibur, I am one of the two historians in the presidency. So we came up with examples together and went into the principal’s office to represent Excalibur. We all shared points of why we should have another try at turning the permission slips in and getting a majority vote to have an opportunity to go on the trip. When we told them all of our reasons and plead our case, they accepted it! The presidency was able to go back and Mrs. Marden told the choir that we had another shot.
After everyone reminding each other to get their trip papers signed and turned in we had to wait for the papers to be counted. A week later Excalibur found out that we had gotten approval to go on the trip! We had enough papers turned in this time. It was so exciting and everyone was grateful that we had the opportunity to try again. That experience positively impacted the student body that was in choir by being willing to put ourselves out there and do something that might have been scary, but we pushed through and worked for what we wanted. I’m very grateful for that experience and all that it has taught me. I hope I can continue to positively impact my high school and student body.