Teaching the white girl to dance.

My freshman year I took a big leap out of my comfort zone and joined the Interdenominational Youth Choir, a predominately African American gospel choir on my campus. When I joined three years ago I had no idea that it would change my life and shape me into a confident young woman. This blog post serves as an ode to my IYC fam and a shout out for the amazing times.

The four amigos from freshman year. 

The story starts out with me as a freshman (awkward and shy that's for sure) in college. My university has something called "Festival ISU" where all the student and community organizations come out on the quad to give out information and try to recruit people to be in their group. I walked around the quad with my friend Julie. We spent the afternoon checking out all the cool organizations that the university has to offer and collecting a crap ton of free stuff (Julie was especially excited for the free cups, haha). During high school I was always involved in my church's choir and I loved every minute of it! We would spend our spring breaks touring across the USA singing at various churches. That choir was where I made some of my closest friends from high school. So going into college I wanted to see if I could join a choir of some sort to keep up the singing.

Smiles all around at a concert freshman year. 

I remember walking up to the IYC booth because I saw two things that interested me; music notes and Jesus. I thought to myself, "Wow! Two of my favorite things located in one booth! Can life get any better than this?" The people that were at the booth asked me if I liked to sing and became very excited when I responded that I did. They proceeded to give me information about how to become a member and when rehearsals were and such. I took the information and then continued on my way. That night when I got home, Julie and I looked through the handful of flyers that we had collected throughout the day.

Exec board being our goofy selves. 

When I came to the IYC flyer I googled them to see if I could get more information. When the website came up I read that this choir was one of the first predominately black organizations that is on ISU's campus. My first immediate thought was, "Well, I'm not black. I'm definitely as white as can be. So I obviously can't join this choir." And that was that. I didn't go to that rehearsal the first week because I was afraid to step outside of my comfort zone. Weeks went by and I went about my life, occasionally thinking about the choir, but mostly focusing on school work and such. About a month later I was sitting in my math class when this girl came and sat down next to me. She was wearing one of IYC's track jackets so I could easily tell that she was a member of the choir. Curiosity got the best of me and I approached her and asked her about her jacket and pretended to play dumb as she explained all about the choir (I had already known most of the information because a few weeks previously I had done some more research).

The exec board and our clinician Judith McAllister at our Workshop.  

The next thing I know I am going to my first IYC choir rehearsal. I went into the room where it was being held only knowing one person (and I barley knew her because we just met that morning) and I walked out at the end of the night with a whole new family. The minute I walked into the room the president of the choir (who is my big brother and best friend now) marched right up to me and said "Welcome home suga foot" while embracing me in a huge hug. I sat in awe during the warm ups and review of the songs. The music and harmonies between the sections was outstanding. I was instantly hooked. It was not a coincidence that I had ran into that girl in my math class who then sparked the interest again to get involved in the choir.

Eating lunch with our sister choir
 from Northern Illinois University. 

Joseph and I. Can't catch us not smiling.

I was welcomed with open arms that first rehearsal and that truly changed my life. Being a member of this amazing choir has opened my eyes to so many great things and broadened my horizons. Growing up I came from a mainly white town and didn't experience much diversity. I had interacted with people that were different than me, but it wasn't a regular part of my life. This was the first time that I have ever experienced being the minority of a group (and that truly doesn't happen very often being a white, middle class, female). Was it awkward being the minority sometimes? Sure. I would receive some stares as I would enter various events that we were singing at. Were the stares meant to be hurtful? Probably not, I would imagine the were more sparked by curiosity than anything else. Most of all I learned how to be compassionate towards others that are different than me and this is a very good lesson to learn. The thing that is most beautiful in all of this is that I may have a different skin color than my friends in choir, but we are still a part of Christ's HUGE family. That bond is so much stronger than anything else in the world. All the differences between our lives are wiped away because we have this common thread of brother and sisterhood.

Praise and worship pose. And go. 

The past three years of my time in choir have been absolutely fabulous and I wouldn't change it for the world. My choir family has been there to encourage me through the bad times and celebrate with me during the good times. We have shared many smiles, laughs, tears, late nights and adventures. I have enjoyed building relationships with everyone I've met and experiencing all that I can throughout my time in choir. I also had the pleasure of serving on the Executive Board for two years as the Vice President. During my time as VP, I got to help plan and lead some cool programs as well as put on a very successful Workshop weekend for visiting college choirs. I took for granted all the amazing opportunities and wonderful people I met as a result of being a member of this choir. I will miss this experience as I graduate college and start up my new life. These memories and people will forever be etched into my heart and always on my mind. I am so blessed to have this choir in my life and my life has been forever changed.

My big brother, role model and best friend. So thankful he's in my life. 

My mom would always joke with me throughout my time in choir that 'They were teaching the white girl to dance.' I attribute my grove and natural swag from being a part of a gospel choir. I am positive that my ability to harmonize with the radio in the car is a direct result from the endless hours of rehearsal and being a member of the Alto section. Not only did IYC teach this white girl how to dance, but they also taught her how to open up her heart and let others walk in. They taught her how love others unconditionally and the true meaning of family. They helped her build a stronger relationship with Christ. They helped her find herself in a world that can often times be overwhelming.


Quick Little Funny Story to Share:
We had a concert in the spring of my Junior year and at the end of the concert some of my choir friends came up to me and said "Oh Jenny it's so cool that your parents came to the concert!" I gave them a puzzled look because my parents were not at the concert due to having a schedule conflict. I told them this and they shook their heads and pointed to the only white couple sitting in the audience and said, "No, that's them, isn't it?" All I could do was laugh and reply "Nope that's not them. Just because they are white doesn't mean you can assume they are related to me." It made me giggle but then stop to think about how many times this might happen with the roles reversed.

My big brother Javin and amazing advisor Donald. 

iGlow. Do you?

This past weekend, I was blessed with the experience of the IYC iGlow workshop. Well, first I should probably back it up and explain what IYC is.

IYC. It stands for Interdenominational Youth Choir, but trust me it means so much more. In short it is a Gospel choir on my college's campus that has 50+ members who sing to the Lord with all their heart. All through highschool I was a part of my church's youth choir and it was an amazing experience. My best friends to this day are those who I met due to being a part of that choir. When I got to college, I got involved in a church right away and I am so thankful for that. I instantly connected with the other college kids that I met at church. There still was a part of me that was missing, and that wasn't content. I missed the choir aspect of my life, and making joyful music with my friends. One day, out of the blue, I was talking to a friend in my math class and she told me about this Christian choir group and invited me to join her at a rehearsal. I looked the choir online just to see what it was all about. I decided to go and check out a practice. I was welcomed with open arms held out wide! After the first song we sang, I knew that this was the place for me. I have formed many friendships in the past few weeks with the other choir members, and I can't wait for what's in store ahead.

So back to the amazing things that happened this weekend. Every year, IYC hosts a big workshop for gospel choirs across Illinois. The weekend started out with a college concert night on Friday. This showcased all of the choirs that came for the weekend and allowed them to show off their talents in a few songs. When it was our turn to go up we blew the audience away with our joyful music and energetic attitudes. IYC sang 4 songs total, and boy was it fun! I let the music inside of me and just rocked out by singing and dancing my heart out.

Saturday started off bright and early. We were fortunate enough to have 2 classes that taught us all how to strengthen our faith. Later on in the day we had Tye Tribbett, a famous Gospel artist come in and to a class for us. The words that he shared with us were just amazing. He has such an insight on life and a strong relationship with God. One thing that stuck out that he said over the weekend was "When it's raining hard, you know it won't last long..." That night we had a mass choir rehearsal where Mr. Tye Tribbett conducted us all and taught us his songs. The sound that was produced by all of us was just outstanding!

Then on Sunday we had the mass choir concert. It started off with the praise team singing some songs. Followed by a beautiful dance by the praise team dancers. One of my favorites of the day was the mime ministers who did a dance to a song and let me tell you, it was amazing! It was one of those moments when your sitting in where you are and everything around you is still and it seems like everything is content. The mass choir then filled the stage and worshiped and sang with Tye. It was an experience I will never forget. I was so excited that my dad got to come down to see me sing. We went out for a yummy dinner and got to chat for a bit. :)

I really feel that I am still glowing from this weekend and probably will be for a while. I'm spreading my light with everyone here on my campus, and everyone I can. So when someone asks, 'Do you glow in the dark?' I can say 'iGlow!'

Tye Tribbett & I