Everyone likes singing in the shower and, if you don’t, then you’re a pretty bad liar. We all know you do, but it’s okay, since we all do! No shame in that, compadre. What most do take shame in is public embarrassment. Well, maybe all of us take shame in that, because nobody wants to be publicly humiliated. A good, quick, and easy way to embarrass yourself is to sing in front of people and realize that you aren’t the John Lennon or Taylor Swift you thought yourself to be. Most of us would never take our shower ballads beyond the bathroom, and THAT is a real shame. There are so many people out there that will never realize how good they are at singing or how much potential they possess because they never decide to take that first step out of the shower. I don’t blame them either, the world of singing is a staunchly competitive and harshly critical one and can seem very intimidating to anyone without good guidance into it.

Mrs. Dubois, the choir teacher here at Lewis Cass, would not stop bothering me at the beginning of the Fall 2021 semester. After I had sung a single song at that year’s Variety Show, she wanted me in her program. Nearly every day after school I would hear my little sister Olivia, who is in Kings Chorale, tell me another story about how Mrs. Dubois talked about wanting me in her choir. She nearly convinced me, too, saying I would be put into the advanced choir class as soon as I joined. I was worried about having to learn music and music theory on top of all my other classes so I opted out for the first semester. If I have any regrets for my Senior Year, the biggest would be not joining choir sooner.

As the second semester came around, I decided to finally join the choir after I saw that fall’s choir concert. It was incredibly entertaining and, by observing everyone having fun, I remembered how good it felt to be on the stage and thought of how fun it would be to sing alongside them. I told my girlfriend next to me at that concert that I would tell Mrs. Dubois that I’ll join. It was one of the best decisions of my high school career. I joined Advanced Choir Collective second semester and was immediately intimidated. Everyone was throwing around these terms I didn’t understand like measure, tempo, crescendo, falsetto, sharp and flat among others. I was handed sheet music with absolutely no clue what I was looking at and so very not excited to have to learn everything about it. I couldn’t tell a C note apart from a D note (and honestly I still can’t). I was absolutely clueless, but it didn’t matter. Mrs. Dubois sung to me the notes I needed to sing and how fast and loud I had to sing them and I learned from there. Whenever I had questions, she would answer them, but left the rest of the learning to me. The way she taught me to sing and how to read sheet music made me feel like I was genuinely learning every day, even if I wasn’t. I would figure things out on my own just by observing people around me and listening very closely and reading very carefully. I wasn’t sat down and given weeks of lessons over how to differentiate certain notes or how to make my own music, I was just taught how to use my voice confidently. It was amazing

Over time, I learned to sing unashamedly, something a lot of people will never learn how to do. In my time in choir, I’ve learned more about myself than in any other curriculum-based class. I could not be more grateful for the opportunities Mrs. Dubois have given me in such a short period of time. If you are someone who tends to sing in the shower and is afraid to take that first step out of it: don’t hesitate. Join the Lewis Cass Choir, you won’t regret it.