"Alright guys, let's go over this one more time. We will sing four piece of music today. We'll do Jubilant Song first. Also, remember the parts when I told you to hold your breath until the next note starts!" Choir teacher was giving us some last minute talk before we perform. But I couldn't even hear or understand what she was saying. I was so nervous that my throats got tight and I could literally hear my heart beating faster. I looked around the whole choir team. We were standing in the small room inside the nursing home. There were about twenty students who were standing in two lines. Girls all wore matching black dress with black shoes. Boys wore their suits and ties. "We are going to rehearse one more time. Let's start with Amazing grace. Altos, remember not to follow Sopranos at the second line. Okay?" After the short instruction, teacher started to play the intro part of the Amazing Grace. My thoughts returned to the day when I first joined the Quire.
Few weeks after I arrived in America to study English my aunt told me that I will be attending private mission school nearby. "I heard that there are no Korean in the school. I know it will be a challenge to you since you can't hear or speak any Korean. However, I think it will be a great chance for you to learn English faster." said my aunt. I was only 15 and I was only beginning to learn English. I felt very uncomfortable talking to friends and teachers in school. I was counting the day when I would go back to Korea which would be a year after. However, I decided to take a big step and join a choir team because no matter what, I loved to sing. Joining the choir turned out to be the great idea because I made some friends and started to feel a little more comfortable speaking English. After few weeks the choir teacher told us that we will be visiting nursing home near the school and sing for the elders. Alison, who were sitting next to me whispered, "I heard people in nursing home where we visiting don't have any family to visit them. Isn't it sad?" I felt very bad but at the same time it was overwhelming because I have never visited nursing home even in Korea. Our team learned two more piece of music before visiting nursing home and practiced it for about whole month. And now here I am 5minutes from actual performance.
Hi, I'm Youjung Kim. Your writing was very impressive! I loved that you started your writing with quoatations from your teacher. I also liked that you started from the moment before the performance, explained how you joined the choir team, and then went back to moment of the performance. The most impressive was how you ended the writing. I overall really enjoyed reading this!
ReplyDeleteHello, it's Yoona Kim. Your essay seemed real that you described your feelings in detail by saying 'my throats got tight'. However, I was little confused that the 'Quire' was the name of the choir you were in. I imagine so but since there was no explanation, I just wanted to make sure. When I reread your first paragraph, I could easily imagine the situation because you used direct quotations and the vivid descriptions. Also, I found out your basic verb tense is past but you used different tenses in some parts. I bet you intended to do so. I am looking forward to find out the title for your essay and whether there are any other memory of the choir. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteHi, I'm Sieun Kim. I enjoyed reading your essay! I thought your essay structure was really unique since you explained how the situation on the first paragraph happened in the second paragraph. I also liked the beginning of your essay. It caught my eyes because it was about singing class, which I never have taken in my childhood, shown in quotations. Overally, the essay had clear and vivid descriptions,too. So I think your essay is written well! See you in class^^.
ReplyDeleteChoir
ReplyDelete“Alright guys, let’s go over this one more time. We will sing four pieces of music today. First, we’ll do Jubilant Song. Remember the parts told you to hold your breath until the next note starts!” Mrs. Backens, our Choir teacher was giving us some last minute talk before we perform. But I couldn’t even hear or understand what she was saying. I was so nervous that my throats got tight and I could literally hear my heart beating faster. I looked around the whole choir team. We were standing in the small room inside the nursing home. There were about twenty students who were standing in two separate lines. All girls were wearing matching black dress with black shoes and boys were wearing their suits and ties. “We are going to rehearse one more time. Let’s start with Amazing grace. Altos, remember not to follow Sopranos at the second line. Okay?” After the short instruction, Mrs. Backens started to play the intro part of the Amazing Grace. But my thoughts drifted back to the day when I first joined the Choir.
It was a huge decision for me to join the Choir because at the time I first arrived in America, everything around me was unfamiliar and seemed uncertain. Few weeks after I arrived in America my aunt told me that I will be attending a private mission school nearby. “I know it will be a challenge to you since are learning a new language. However, I think it will be a great chance for you to learn English faster.” said my aunt. I felt very uncomfortable talking to friends and teachers in school. I was counting the day until I go back to Korea. However, I decided to take a big step and join a choir team because no matter what, I loved to sing. Joining the choir turned out to be a great idea. I made some friends and started to feel a little more comfortable speaking English. After few weeks, the choir teacher told us we will be visiting nursing home near the school to sing for the elders. Alison, who were sitting next to me whispered, “I heard people in nursing home, especially the one where we are visiting, don’t have any family to visit them. Isn’t it sad?” I felt very bad but at the same time it was overwhelming because I have never visited nursing home even in Korea. Our team learned two more piece of music before visiting nursing home and we practiced it through whole month. And now here I am 5minutes from actual performance.
When I entered the room I saw a lot of people were already waiting for us. Some were sitting in a wheel chair and others were sitting in a chair. Then I saw this one Elderly woman with bright pink blouse and pretty flower hair pin. When our eyes met for a brief moment, she gave me a big smile. At that moment all my worries and nervousness melted away. As the sound of the piano starts to fill the room I looked around the whole audience for the first time. They all had a big smile and looked very excited. I don’t know why but suddenly the image of my grandmother came to my mind. As I was singing our last song which was Amazing Grace, I was completely relaxed. I heard the audience sing along and it made me smile. After the performance we gave elders a big hug. One of them said “Thank you for the lovely music.” After I left Korea, I’ve always noticed how I look different from all the others. The color of my eyes, hair or skin seemed so different. But, it was the first time I didn’t notice any of that.