Song Contest

How do I explain Song Contest?  It's something that so few people have ever heard of.  Trying to explain it to Hans left him staring at me like I had four heads.  Oh well, I'll try to explain it to all of you.

All schools have school colors.  My school's colors were Green and White.  However, at my school each CLASS also had their own colors.  These colors were chosen by the class when they were freshmen.  The colors could not be the same as any other class colors.  When I was a freshmen the colors were Blue & Green, Purple & Yellow, Black & White, and Pink & Navy.  We were Pink & Navy.

Then, each Spring, the classes would come together for a competition...Song Contest.  Each class would perform for eight minutes, and their performance must include one slow song and the Alma Mater.  Classes would take popular songs and change the words to make them about our high school.  The classes are then judged by three judges who can only identify the classes by their class colors.

While this is a decent description, it can't convey the feeling.  The feeling of excitement and nervousness coursing through the students as they wait to hear who is the winner.  The feeling of camaraderie between students.  The excitement in the audience.  The pure enjoyment of the evening.  A simple explanation certainly cannot do the evening justice.  The best way to explain Song Contest is to actually go to it.

So, that's what Hans and I finally did on Friday.  We attended the 60th Annual Song Contest.  It had been 7 years since I'd graduated and had last attended a Song Contest, and it had been 10 years since my class first won at the 50th Annual Song Contest.  I was so excited.  The highlight of the evening was when the alumnae went on stage to sing the Alma Mater.  I'd been dreaming of that moment since I was 17, and I was so excited to be able to go up there.

As I walked onto the stage, who should I see but four ladies I hadn't seen since high school.  We had our greetings, and then we decided to meet up at IHOP afterward.  Seven years had passed since I'd seen these girls, and our lives were quite different.

At first I felt a bit out of place.  All these girls who I'd studied with, gone out with, laughed with, were studying for their Masters and Ph.D. in fields like psychology, biomedical engineering and electrical engineering.  I felt like that girl who'd barely finished high school.  All I had was a college degree in music.  How could I measure up?  Then I realized something.  It dawned on me.  Hey!  I own my own business.  I love what I do, and I'm quite good at it.  I'm married with a home, and I love my life.  What do I have to feel bad about?  NOTHING!  As a matter of fact, I had quite a lot to feel happy about.  Yay!

So, all in all a wonderful evening.  I think the right class won.  I got to see a bunch of old friends.  Plus, I finally got to show Hans what Song Contest is all about.  I doubt I'll go every year.  Not having a particular class to root for kind of takes away the excitement.  However, I do know I'll go back at some point.  It was too fun to not return.  Until then, I'll carry the memories of Song Contest with me.  I'll use those memories as a reminder of what once was.  I'll remember it as a happy time in my life, but something that is in the past.  Something that has shaped my future and made me the woman I am today...a happy, successful woman with a wonderful family and fabulous friends.