Author: Rachel G.
I was in Taos Dining hall, doing my first dinner time announcement, and frankly, I was feeling a little bit dizzy. I wasn’t even speaking, Prisha did all the talking.
Sign-ups are out, please make sure you put your act for Monday…
All I had to do was stand there and curse myself for ever auditioning for the Talent show’s emcee role. How am I going to handle talking for a whole night to a crowded room when I can’t even speak at dinner?!?
Monday came and went, and I can only say that I am so incredibly glad that I took on the role. Not humble bragging, but Prisha and I killed it. Beyond being glad, I can say it was a true honor to have introduced all that talent to the classroom/stage.
Here are some highlights:
Illana simultaneously solved two rubix cubes, one in each hand, whilst also reciting a digit of pi for each move. Oh, and she was blindfolded. CRAZY!
The Backstreet Asians sung “I Want it That Way”. Sri can (kind of) sing well! I’m also pretty sure some of the guys in the front row fainted.
Dr. Rengstorf recited a poem about what teachers do. It made me cry a little but I had to quickly pull myself together to announce the next act.
My friends and I did a mashup dance of Kpop and Pakistani pop, choreographed and taught by the lovely Isbaah and Clarice. When it came our turn, me and my co-emcee quickly brushed off suit jackets and sported our Kpop looks.
String Theory a string quartet gave a beautiful performance, during this Benji did… interpretive dance?
And the TAs continued to lie to us on where they actually went on their day off. Someone also moo’d.
As Prisha and I took our final bow and congratulated all the participants, I thought about how far we had all come. Academically, SSP takes you out of your comfort zone and then launches you in orbit. But socially, the choice to leave your comfort zone is yours alone. Performing in front of everyone, deciding to take on a new responsibility, all the scary things that we have tackled along the way was done by us.
And in the end, if you keep doing the things you fear, you will look back on the many experiences of a lifetime.
