My A.I. Experience: Time to Work

Before continuing my story, I really feel the need to thank Pastor Tanya for helping me through this experience. Without her help I couldn’t have done any of this. She pushed me to my limits and encouraged me to get out there and do my best. Thank you Tanya, for everything.

It was three o’clock in the morning. My head ticked and toked like it was about to explode. I sat up quietly, in fear of waking my friends, and went to the bathroom to find something to make me feel better. I found some NyQuil and was extremely tempted to down the whole bottle, but remembering that I had practice in a few hours quickly changed my mind.

For a minute I stared at my reflection in the mirror. I imagined myself in front of thousands of screaming fans on a brightly lit stage. Ten back up dancers surrounded me as I began to sing. Fireworks exploded above me as I hit the climax of the song. The crowd moved like the waves of the ocean as they screamed for more. And they got exactly what they asked for. After one more song, I pretended to bow for my made up audience and quietly thanked them as I exited the stage.

After returning from the bathroom, I tip toed back into Aubrey’s media room where the gang was peacefully sleeping. I was jealous at the fact that I was the only one who got sick after staying up for practically four days straight. Don’t get me wrong, I had the time of my life, but having to be the only one to receive the consequences was quite annoying. Once I had gotten back in my spot, I closed my eyes for what seemed to only be a second.

Suddenly I heard Aubrey’s mother yelling for us to wake up. Daylight invaded the media room as she opened the door, and her happy voice echoed throughout the walls. “Girls wake up already! It’s almost eleven o’clock and it is a bea-utiful day!” she squealed. I panicked as I realize I was going to be late for practice. Without thinking I quickly grabbed my keys and headed out the door as I thanked Aubrey’s mom for letting me stay over.

Aubrey lived about ten minutes out of town. Driving from her house always gave me time to think, and as a drove to practice that morning, thoughts were tearing up my mind. I was still uncertain about attending USF, but instead of figuring out what to do about it, I had decided that I needed to have a fun summer. Having the time of my life with friends and practicing for A.I. was my main focus for now, because I realized I still had time to decide what to do with my life later. But I was worried Pastor Tanya would be mad that I was running late for my first real practice. Also, I was worried that this sickness would ruin my chance to audition.

I had only two weeks until my first audition in Dallas, and I was so sick I could barely talk. Pastor Tanya prayed for me before we began practice, but I was still worried I wouldn’t improve . She made me sing even though I sounded horrible. For days I felt like I was going to die, but I pushed through regardless. After the first week I was feeling better, but I knew I didn’t sound better. I finally decided I needed a break from life. I took a full day to sleep, which later I realized was the best decision I had made all summer.

After giving my body a day to rest, my voice improved, and I was no longer sick. There was only six days until my audition, and I worked my butt off with Pastor Tanya. She worked with me everyday, and always encouraged me when I was feeling insecure about my voice. I don’t think I would have been as ready as I was without her.  She did so much for me that week, I had no idea how I was going to thank her, and to this day I still don’t think I’ve thanked her enough.

All of the work we had done together was about to be critiqued. Only two days remained until my audition, and I hoped I had done enough to prepare. Pastor Tanya had invited some of the church leaders to come and critique my improvements. I was unaware of what to expect as they sat down and prepared to judge my every move. My nerves were going ballistic, for I realized this was where I was about to discover if all of my work had paid off, or if my time with friends had distracted me too much.

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