Two activities thought of as opposites; the jocks and the drama kids. What's it like to be on both sides? What challenges do people face being both in fine arts and football? What sacrifices do they have to make?
I'm involved in both, and enjoy every minute of it. I wouldn't trade anything, and I love the diversity I get to see when I go from football practice to show choir practice. In all honesty the types of people are completely different. My football teammates are bigger, stronger, and all guys. While show choir has a mixed sex environment, and the people are all very different. In show choir there are big and strong kids, but a lot of them are smaller than me, they incorporate different sexual orientations, ranging from gay to straight to bisexual. Normally my show choir friends take a pride in their appearance and have a very artsy style of clothing compared to that of football players, who wear athletic clothing every day of the week.
What is important about these differences? Not a lot besides the fact that these two groups of people are very different, and care about different things. This makes being on both sides challenging sometimes because when two different groups of people come together, conflict arises. At Kennedy I'd like to say that football players and show choir people get along for the most part, but there is definitely tension between the two. Over social media things are said to one another; who can draw the biggest crowds is also a thing talked about over social media. When a fine arts activity is at the same time as a big sporting event, complications arise on which one is more important, and why more people go to one over the other. I'm here to say that both are equally important no matter the circumstance. It's hard to compare the two because they are so different, which is why I enjoy participating in both the fine arts and sports.
Alongside the constant battle between the two groups, I also run into conflicts because I participate in both. In sports, teams of the same school try and have one event happening at a time that way fans can go to that event. When there is a fine arts and sports thing at the same time, you have to pick and choose. An example of when I had to do this was for my All-State Auditions. The Iowa All-State is a state wide choir that kids tryout for every year. The process is intense as us kids have to learn seven songs, form a quartet, and sing cuts of those songs for a judge. The judges around the state then have a certain number of kids that they can allow into the actually All-State choir. This year I had both a playoff football practice and my audition on the same day. This was extremely hard for me because I practiced my tail off for the past three months preparing for this All-State audition, but my team had made the playoffs and if I missed the practice that would put me behind, and potentially cost me of playing in the game. I had to make a decision. My decision was to go audition, and then after I had gone, head back to football practice that way I could make both. What I was giving up was a potential recall I could get, which I would then not be able to attend, making me ineligible to make the choir. Luckily I made the choir after the first round of auditions, meaning I was able to play in the playoff game and make my desired choir.
The fine arts and football are different there is no doubt about it. The common similarity between the two however is that the people are nice, hard-working, and are willing to give everything they have in order to achieve a common goal. I love being on both sides of the spectrum because I think it makes me a well-rounded individual. Even though sometimes it's hard being on both sides, it's worth it and the memories I make will last with me forever.
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