I have been dealing with this conflict since the very beginning of the year: Speech versus Choir
I knew there would be some risk in doing both since those two activities tend to conflict each other. in 2011, it was Showcase vs. Tour. Obviously, most Speech-Choir people went with the latter.
But this entire time, I’ve been dealing with State vs. Tour. State Quals hasn’t happened yet, but I really want to qualify to State this year. Judging how the current situation seems with switching the choir tour date to get rid of all the conflicts that people have… It doesn’t really seem like I have a choice. Lyons is going to be hard to convince. I’m rapidly approaching the point where I’ll just have to give up and accept the fact that I can only take one path.
In James Cameron’s Avatar, the protagonist Jake Sully is introduced to a new word on the planet “Pandora.” He becomes one with the Na’vi tribes, enters an internal conflict between the humans and Na’vi, and ultimately both sides end up waging war against each other in the end. Jake decides that his heart truly belongs with the Na’vi, and abandons the Human race once and for all.
I’m using Avatar as an analogy to my situation. I started with speech first about 2 1/2 years ago, but I ventured into new grounds and joined Choir. I hate to admit this… but after about 5 months with Choir, I feel like I’m so much closer with them than I am with speech people. They’re two largely distinct cliques but everyone who knows me well, knows that my heart goes with music. I decided to talk about this tonight because of how… out of place I felt at today’s OI practice/outing. Who knows? It might have been my sore-throat and light-headedness, but I feel like I don’t click as well with speech people as I do with choir people anymore. It’s the pressure; the obligations that I have as an event leader; the responsibilities, frustration, and concern that are gradually shifting my perspective on speech.
Don’t get me wrong - I still love competing at speech tournaments. The 2011-2012 tournaments have been the greatest by far in my speech career…
But it’s killing me on the inside that I’ll eventually have to sacrifice some of the things that I love the most.
Sacrifices must be made for the better good… but what IS the better good in this situation…?
February 19th, 2012
