I am a returning senior this year in the Chamber choir, meaning that I have dedicated my final two years of high school primarily to growing my gift of singing. I am not the only one who has decided to spend their time this way. Chamber choir is a group of students who, simply put, have passion for music. Music is more to us than something you listen to; rather it is something you hear, feel, and create. Music has the power to move people – to penetrate the soul like nothing else.

This power became evident when we took a trip to Washington D.C. We left February 15th to embark on what would be an amazing journey to grow and showcase our collective talent, as well as our gifts as individuals. This year we had thehonor of performing at the National Cathedral, the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, the Kennedy Center, and Ben’s Chili Bowl. Anyone who travels to our nation’s capital can visit these places, but not many get to stand where we stood, and even fewer get to perform where we performed.

For me, the most awe-inspiring place we sang was the National Cathedral. It’s a place that you see in movies and in textbooks, and maybe you even get to visit it and take a tour, but we were given the opportunity to sing there. Our voices filled the corners of the church, and people stood breathlessly silent and listened. And when we stopped singing, the sound kept going, and we stood and listened in awe of ourselves, and the beautiful music we were able to make. I have never been more aware of my talent before this trip.

Chamber choir is more than just a class; it is an experience that changes not only the lives of the members of the choir, but also the lives of those who listen. From day one in Chamber, we begin to learn to listen, to each other and ourselves, and it is on the Chamber trip that that lesson finally sinks in. I can listen to the people around me whose voices bring tears to my eyes because they sound so unbearably beautiful, and appreciate that I get to sing with them. I am talented enough, and I have worked hard enough to earn my place standing in an arc in the National Cathedral, performing beautiful music.

The experience of Chamber choir is one that is unparalleled, and it is difficult to explain truly what it feels like to be a part of something so great. I never in a million years would have imagined that I would one day be performing in the National Cathedral, have people stop walking in the Kennedy Center because my voice is worth having to rush to find their seat before their show starts, have my picture on the wall of Ben’s Chili Bowl with Bill Cosby and Barack Obama, or make grown men weep in a place as beautiful as the Basilica because my voice moved them like not even the gorgeous stained glass and paintings and mosaics could. I never dreamed that I would be a part of something so incredible, so extraordinary. I am unbelievably proud of my choir and I hope that year after year, more and more students will be given the chance to experiencethe same thing that I did: to become awe-inspired by their own talents and by the talents of others. I hope that they will be a part of something great like I have been, and that they are equally as passionate as I am about the music that they make. I am honoredto have spent these last two years in Chamber, and I wish those who follow me the best of luck in growing their gift of singing as I have grown mine.