Although I’ve always loved music all my life and played musical instruments like the flute and piano, I have never had actual experience with singing. My experience with singing was having a jam sesh with my friends, blasting music in the car, singing from the top of my lungs in the shower, etc.
As a student-athlete, when I first got to Williams College, I was exhausted and overwhelmed by the intense schedule of preseason. Don’t get me wrong, though. I absolutely LOVED every moment of it. Collegiate level volleyball. That’s what I wanted and part of the reason why I chose Williams, so preseason was an amazing experience that I can’t wait to do again this next upcoming season.
But during this time was also the time to get involved in other student clubs, organization, and groups on campus. Since acapella was something I was interested in, I decided to sign up for a couple auditions, but after a couple days into preseason, I realized to cross my name off. Being a busy fall athlete and a clueless freshman just trying to figure out what college is all about, I figured I would join all of these things maybe in the spring or after I settle down a bit.
My JA, who happens to be in one of the acapella groups here in campus, heard me singing in the shower and told me I had to audition. I told her that I was initially going to, but decided to wait. Looking back now, I’m very thankful that my JA was persistent and told me that she already told everyone in the group that I was going to audition and told me that I had to audition.
So I ended up only auditioning for that acapella group, and I could not be happier. I never really knew what being an acapella group would be like, but I figured it was just a group of people who have fun together singing. But I realized that it’s so much more than that here.
I think every college community has its own “mini communities” within the whole college. Acapella here definitely has its own “community” and presence on campus, but within the acapella “community,” each acapella group has its own “vibe.”
My acapella group, the Accis, are the sweetest, most welcoming, loving, and caring people I know. Being an all girls group, I see these girls as my sisters. Each and every one of them has been extremely supportive of me in everything I do from relationship problems to figuring out what Williams is still like to helping me get more familiar with singing. They have all gone beyond just the “acapella” friendship and have truly shown that they really want to get to know me and that they care. And I cannot tell you how much more fun and exciting it is to be able to sing with a group of people who you truly love being around.
During my first acapella concert when I was terrified, just making eye contact and having the girls smile at me during our performance made me calm. I cannot thank my JA enough for being persistent with me about auditioning because I was able to meet and sing along an amazing group of girls. And besides, our color scheme is always on point at every performance and I love it.