BYU Women's Chorus

When I was a freshman in college, someone told me I should try out for the BYU Women's Chorus.  The only things I had tried out for that involved singing up to that point were school plays when I was involved in an elementary school chorus, a far cry from an elite university choir.  I had been singing my whole life but I had very little training and I was scared to put my voice on display for a learned professor to critique.

I hemmed and hawed over the decision for a long time.  My roommate Sandee was a good singer as well and said she would try out if I did.  The morning of the try outs arrived and I finally made my decision.  I picked out a song from the hymnbook to sing ("I Believe in Christ") and headed off to class with every intention of biting the bullet and putting my name on the audition list.  I had prayed long and hard that morning that I would have the chance to try out.  But, as it turns out, I had waited far too long to decide.  After my morning classes, I ran over to Sister Applonie's office to sign up.  All of the time slots were full.  I asked her if she could add another time slot but she said she couldn't make any exceptions or she would have to make one for everyone.  Feeling dejected, I walked home to my dorm room at Heritage Halls and tried to focus on doing my homework.

As I sat there trying to convince myself that it just wasn't meant to be, my roommate Sandee ran into our room.  "Celia!  I was sitting out in front of Sister Applonie's office to see if I could try out when a girl walked up and crossed her name off the audition list.  I put your name in her time slot!  You better get over there soon!  Your audition is in 15 minutes!"  Needless to say, there was a fair bit of scrambling and running that took place after that.  Luckily, Heritage Halls is right across the street from the HFAC or I would have been completely out of breath and sweaty for my audition.  I barely had the chance to glance over the words of "I Believe in Christ" before the door opened and I was pulled into Sister Applonie's office.

Sister Applonie is a very small, petite woman but she can be as intimidating as a Grizzly Bear in an audition setting.  She sat down on the piano bench and said, "Because this is a mid-year audition process we only have seven spots open in Women's Chorus.  I just wanted to let you know that the chances of getting in are low...but let's hear what you have to offer!"  She started into warm-ups so she could determine my range.  She then handed me a sheet of paper with several different rhythms listed.  She told me to sight read them and tap out the notes on my leg.  I had participated in school orchestras since middle school so I had done my share of sight reading but this time was definitely the most terrifying.  She asked me if I had a piece prepared to sing for her.  Clearing my throat, I opened my hymnbook and sang "I Believe in Christ."  Without looking up from her notes she said, "You have a good ear."  And that was it.  She hadn't smiled once during the audition except when she had opened the door to welcome me in.  I had gotten my prayed-for chance to audition but I had no idea what the results would be.

I went home for Christmas break and returned to BYU the day before classes started.  No one had called me or emailed me to tell me I had made it in to Women's Chorus so I accepted the apparent fact that I was an okay singer but not good enough for BYU's music program.  I got through my first day of classes and then went grocery shopping at the Creamery that night with my roommates, leaving my cell phone behind.  When we got home from the Creamery, the red light was blinking on my phone indicating that I had a text or a voicemail.  I flipped open the phone and saw that it was a voice message from a number I didn't recognize.  I called my voicemail box kind of offhandedly, thinking that it was probably just someone from the ward trying to get a hold of me.  But then the message started:  "Hi Celia.  This is Cherie, Sister Applonie's assistant.  We wanted to call you and let you know that, congratulations, you got into Women's Chorus.  Rehearsals are everyday at 3:00 PM in the Madsen Recital Hall.  We hope to see you in class tomorrow!"  I ran out of my room and shouted to my roommates, "I got in!"  They shrieked and yelled right along with me.  My roommate's boyfriend made us celebratory smoothies.  I was so excited to be a part of BYU's music program!

I participated in BYU Women's Chorus from January of 2008 to April of 2011.  I was an Alto II for the first three years and I had so much fun hitting the low notes and playing the role of the prince with the other Alto IIs in our Disney-themed concert.  My senior year, Sister Applonie switched me to Alto I (swinger to Soprano II on certain songs) and I became a section leader.  I loved every minute of it!  Sure, it was a lot of work for one credit and concerts always seemed to be scheduled at the most inconvenient times.  But I had the opportunity to sing at General Conference.  We got to sing at BYU devotionals for prophets and church leaders.  I got to sing songs in four different languages (English, Latin, French, and Italian).  Some were lighthearted.  Some were spiritual.  My testimony grew as I sang songs about the Savior with women who believed the same things I did.  I became more confident in my abilities and in myself in general.

It was a literal answer to prayer and I'm grateful to my roommate Sandee who put my name in that time slot when she could have just as easily put in her own.

Me with my sisters and niece at my first Spring Concert - 2008

Our concert at the Provo Tabernacle.  There were four of us from the BYU 43rd ward in the choir that year. - 2010

What Was the World Like When You Were Born?

It's always been interesting to me to learn about the childhood experiences of some of the older members among us.  I asked my grandmother what it was like to grow up during WWII and I was fascinated by the fact that she was alive while the Nazis committed such horrible atrocities and when the atomic bomb was developed.  I get so caught up in other people's history that I haven't stopped to really think about what I have lived through.  The earth has experienced many harrowing experiences and lots of change since my birth in 1989.  Since I didn't really become aware of what was going on in the world around me until I was in fifth or sixth grade, I decided to do a little study of what the world was like the year that I was born.  Here are the results:

Top 10 Singles of 1989: (see the top 100 here)

• Look Away - Chicago
• My Prerogative - Bobby Brown
• Every Rose Has Its Thorn - Poison
• Straight Up - Paula Abdul
• Miss You Much - Janet Jackson
• Cold Hearted - Paula Abdul
• Wind Beneath My Wings - Bette Midler
• Girl You Know Its True - Milli Vanilli
• Baby, I Love Your Way/Freebird Medley - Will to Power
• Giving You the Best That I Got - Anita Baker

Top 10 Highest Grossing Movies of 1989

• Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
• Batman
• Back to the Future Part II
• Look Who's Talking
• Dead Poets Society
• Lethal Weapon 2
• Honey, I Shrunk the Kids
• Ghostbusters II
• The Little Mermaid
• Born on the Fourth of July 
• Other Notable Movie Releases of 1989 (the ones that I've seen or heard of): The Abyss, All Dogs Go to Heaven, Glory, Lean On Me, Milo and Otis, Say Anything, Steel Magnolias, When Harry Met Sally
  

Popular Toys and Games Introduced in 1989

• Tetris
• Sega Genesis
• Polly Pockets
• Nintendo Game Boy
• Trolls

Most Popular TV Shows of 1989:

• The Cosby Show
• Roseanne
• Cheers
• A Different World
• America's Funniest Home Videos
• The Golden Girls
• 60 Minutes
• The Wonder Years
• Empty Nest
• Monday Night Football 

Historical Background of the Year 1989:

• George H.W. Bush succeeded Ronald Reagan as the 41st president of the United States of America.
• The TV show Thomas & Friends aired for the first time in the United States.
• The Soviet Union ended their 9-year long occupation of Afghanistan.
• Motorola introduced MicroTAC Personal Cellular Phone, which was the world's smallest cell phone at the time.
  
• The Tiananmen Square Protests in China, also known as the '89 Democracy Movement, led to clashes between government officials and Chinese student protesters calling for government accountability and freedom of speech.
• The first McDonald's in the USSR is constructed in Moscow.
• The Government of Argentina declared a nationwide state of siege due to looting and food riots caused by inflation.
• The success of Central and Eastern Europe's anti-Communist revolutions began in Poland.
• Israel experienced its first Palestinian suicide attack.
• Nintendo released the Game Boy portable video game system in North America.  The Sega Genesis was also released.
• The people of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania called for freedom and independence from Soviet rule.
• Hungary opened its borders to refugees from the German Democratic Republic.
• Vietnam removed the last of its troops from Cambodia, ending an 11-year occupation.
• The world's first same-sex unions became legal in Denmark.
• The Loma Prieta earthquake, measuring 7.1 on the Richter scale, struck the San Francisco Bay Area.  It killed 67 people, delayed the World Series for 10 days, and caused part of the Bay Bridge to collapse.
• The first commercial internet dial-up connection in North America was made.
• The first Wal-Mart store (a Sam's Club) was opened in New Jersey.
• East German refugees were allowed into Czechoslovakia.
• The Berlin Wall fell.
  
• President George H.W. Bush and Mikhail Gorbachev released statements indicating that the Cold War was coming to an end.
• Chile held its first free election in 16 years.
• The first full-length episode of The Simpsons is shown on Fox.
• The first Al-Qaeda related cell began operation in New York City.
• The Energizer Bunny was introduced.
• The Oakland Athletics won the World Series and the San Francisco 49ers won the Superbowl.

What kinds of crazy things have you lived through?

Childhood Reminiscing Session #4: I Can See Again!!!

When I was little, I gave myself the impossible goal of having perfect eye sight for the rest of my life.  All of my siblings had gotten contacts and glasses by the time they reached middle school, and I was determined to be the one child in the family to maintain 20/20 vision.  I wouldn't have to worry about where I sat in the classroom.  I could avoid the pain of getting something caught in a contact lens.  I would be the only kid in my family who could trim their bathroom use down each morning and evening by 30 seconds because I didn't have to put/take contacts in or out of my eyes.

But fate has a way of delivering blows and, unfortunately, I am not immune.  At the beginning of my sophomore year of high school, my siblings and I went to our annual appointments with the optometrist.  My sisters told me to read the sign across the street from the doctor's office.  I realized that I could only make out the letter L in a long line of letters and words.  I brushed it off, though, concluding that the sign was too far away for people even with 20/20 vision to see.  When my turn came up to see the doctor, I was still in complete denial.  I walked into his office ready to blow him away with how well I could read the letters on the sign in front of me.  But as I sat down in the chair and I looked through that strange contraption they usually put in front of your face at eye appointments, even I understood that my eye sight had gotten worse.  The bottom two lines looked fuzzy and I had difficulty reading off the letters when he asked me to.  After going through a series of tests, the optometrist pronounced those fateful words:  "You need glasses."  Dumbfounded, I walked out of his office to try out a pair of contacts, avoiding the smug looks on my siblings' faces.  After trying and failing several times to get them to stick, the doctor's assistant had to help me put the contacts in.  Glasses were ordered, contacts were shipped, and I joined the throng of people who have to live out the remainder of their lives with eye problems. 

Feeling blue, I hopped into the Suburban to head back home with the rest of my family.  As I stared out the window and looked at the trees and buildings flashing past, I found that I could see things that I didn't even realize I hadn't been able to see before.  I saw the outline of leaves on trees.  I could read road signs that were far away.  When I arrived at my first class that Monday, I realized that I didn't have to squint to see the board.  Though I didn't achieve my goal of perfect vision, I witnessed the miracle that is eye sight correction.  My eye sight has steadily worsened over the years and every time I get a new prescription, I get to witness the miracle all over again.  "It's a miracle!  I can see again!"

(This post may contain hints of sarcasm.)

That Just Happened

So 2014...yeah, it hasn't been that great so far.  I crashed a rental car in Utah.  I got really sick after my Utah trip and still haven't fully recovered.  I didn't get a job I wanted.  My desktop computer monitor and my laptop charger both decided to stop working at the same time so I had to break the bank a little more and get new ones.  I found out a guy I really liked doesn't like me back.  As I was driving to work a couple of weeks ago, a woman rear-ended me in my beautiful blue, brand spankin' new 2014 Honda Accord that I leased in December.  I've gotten to know the people at AAA a little too well for my taste.  I feel like I need a change but I'm not sure where to go.  My student loan payments are now in full swing...

Needless to say, all the things that have happened so far this year have heightened my stress-level just a tad.  Sleep evades me.  I can't shut off my brain to block out all the worry.

And then I saw this today.

I need to stop worrying about all the things I can't change and start doing things about what I have control over.  Yeah, some (for lack of a better word) crappy things have happened to me this year.  But I need to roll with the punches instead of letting them overpower me.  Yeah.  That happened.  Now, move on!

Name Frustration

I saw this article on Buzzfeed yesterday and found that I could relate to several of the items listed.  Before I proceed, let me assure you that I really like my name.  I am not at all annoyed with my parents for naming me Celia.  But I will say that having a unique first name has led to some uncomfortable situations.

• Every time I answer the phone at work:  *Phone rings.*  "Unalp CPA.  This is Celia."  "Oh hello, Julia, is Melodie available?"  "Yes, let me transfer your call over to her."  "Thank you, Julia."  I feel like if I ever want people to hear my name correctly over the phone I'm going to have to hiss out the first syllable like a snake.  "This is C-s-s-s-elia."
• Every time I go to a place like Jamba Juice and they ask for a name to match to the order, I cringe a little.  Do I give them my first name?  My last name?  My middle name just for kicks?  There was one time I told the girl behind the counter my name.  She looked uncomfortable and confused so I spelled it out for her.  "C-E-L-I-A."  A look of comprehension finally dawned on her face and she said, "Oh, for a moment there I thought you were saying Si-we-uh.  Okay, that makes more sense."  Really?  Do I need speech therapy now as well as a new name? 
• On the first day of school in 5th grade, my teacher read out the roll.  When she came to my name, she said, "Cell-ya Christensen?"  Being the shy little 10-year old that I was at the time, I didn't correct her.  At recess, all the other kids were telling me that I needed to tell Mrs. Cashion that she was saying my name wrong.  Why this was such a difficult thing for me I have no idea.  I finally gathered up my courage to tell my teacher she was saying my name wrong just after the bell rang to go home for the day.  So stressful! ;)
• People constantly spell my name wrong.  I can understand how that might happen but it can still be annoying sometimes.  I saw Cilia on Valentine's cards in elementary school far too often.  People who had known me for years sent me cards in the mail that were addressed to Ceila Christensen.  (My last name has been spelled a variety of ways as well:  Christiansen, Christenson, Christianson...the list goes on.)  The one that gets me the most is when people write Cecilia.  There is only one C in my name when you say my name.  ONE C!!!  My name has two syllables, NOT THREE!  (Although, some people disagree with me on that and say that the proper way to say my name does actually have three syllables, but that's a whole other story.)
• Because my name is difficult for some to pronounce, I have had to come up with an easy way to explain it.  In high school, I started telling people, "It's SEAL, like the animal, and YA, like 'See ya later.' Seal-ya."  Explaining it that way made sense to people but it also gave me the nickname of Seal, a term of endearment that endures to this day.  I used to dislike it but now it's just what close friends call me.  (If you don't call me that on a regular basis already, don't get any ideas.  Only a select few are allowed to call me that.)

So, the next time you see my name on a name tag, I would actually prefer you to ask me how I say my name rather than you trying to figure it out and butchering it. 

Childhood Reminiscing Session #3: Laws of Physics

Starting in 6th grade, school stress and assignments began to take its toll on my sleeping habits.  Foothill Middle School isn't exactly the easiest school out there in terms of homework load.  I remember having to construct pyramids for history class, do reports on specific countries for geography, do daily write-ups for science, do a seemingly endless number of word problems for math, do research papers for P.E., practice my part in orchestra, try to learn a new language, etc.  I would say that my troubles with sleeping began during these formative years.  As more homework assignments started rolling in, I began staying up later and getting up earlier.  I would wake up in the middle of the night worrying about due dates and presentations in class.  Even when I was exhausted, I had difficulty shutting off my brain enough to fall asleep.

The insomnia only escalated further when I hit high school and began attending early morning seminary.  Every morning, I rolled out of bed at 4:25 AM so that I could shower, get dressed, dry my hair, eat breakfast, get any last minute homework done, and be at the Northgate Chapel on time for 6:00 seminary.  When I came home from school, I sat at the table and did all of my homework until I finished late in the evening.  Unlike some high schools in the area, we did not have block schedules where we only had certain classes on specific days of the week.  We had all of our classes every day.  Each day we were assigned a new homework load, and I was not one to skip out on assignments or only do them halfway.  After finishing all of my homework as best I could, I would steal into bed around 10:00 or 11:00 at night just to toss and turn and get up the next morning at 4:25 to start the whole process over again.

One day during my sophomore year of high school, I had had a particularly troublesome night sleep.  I had gone to bed only a couple of hours before getting up to get ready that morning.  As usual, I rolled out of bed when my alarm went off at 4:25.  My eyes remained closed during the entirety of the hot shower that followed.  I got ready without even really noticing what I was putting on.  My Dad took me to seminary where I sat in silence, eyes glassy and chin resting on my arm.  The kids with cars then drove us over to the school where we started our A Period classes at 7:00 AM, mine being Chemistry.  I sat down in my assigned seat in the front row of the classroom.  Mr. Moniz turned the lights off while we watched a short film on elements combining to make molecules.  I could feel myself drifting...I vaguely remember hearing Mr. Moniz say, "For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction."  A question flitted across my mind as to why we were talking about physics in chemistry.  Then I was rudely pulled out of my stupor by a loud THWACK on my desk.  My head shot up, my arms flew out to my sides, and I looked up to find Mr. Moniz standing over me with a ruler in hand.  "See!" He exclaimed, "That was quite the reaction!"

Needless to say, I never fell asleep in class again no matter how tired I was...at least not until college :)

An Eventful Week

I went to Utah this past week for my old roommate Melissa's wedding.  Since the cheapest flights I could find ran from Wednesday to Saturday, I figured I would use the extra time in Utah to set up interviews.  I sent out my resume to several law firms and corporate legal departments.  One responded.   Considering the small number of applications I sent out, I figured that was actually a pretty good ratio.  After speaking with the HR person, the interview was set up for 2:00 on Wednesday.

So I got up at 3:00 AM on Wednesday so I could have time to make myself look professional for my interview but also make my 6:00 AM flight in time.  Mom drove me to the Oakland airport and I arrived there at 5:15.  I've never been anywhere close to late for a flight but I guess we all need to have the experience of just barely making it sometime.  I stood in the security line for 40 minutes.  I'm pretty sure we all wanted to slap the lady in front of us who decided to drop her ID in her large purse before entering the security line and then spend five minutes searching for it when she made it up to the desk.  I finally got through the line at 5:55 and then practically ran in my heels all the way to my gate.  They were just about to close the doors when I shuffled down the hallway, panting and a little warm in my disheveled business attire.

We landed around 8:30 in Salt Lake.  I had made a reservation for a rental car at Advantage so I walked down the stairs to the rental car section of the airport.  Let me just say that getting a rental car when you are four months shy of 25 years of age is the most aggravating thing ever.  They add $25 a day to your fees when you are underage.  Not only that, rental car companies usually only accept credit cards for payment with a few exceptions for debit cards. Since I only have a debit card, Advantage required that I put down a $350 deposit for a credit check.  I wasn't about to do that so the lady behind the counter suggested I try Thrifty.  Their deposit was much smaller and they gave me a free upgrade to a Mustang Convertible.  So I went and picked up the keys, put my luggage in the car, and was just about to pull away when I realized that I couldn't change gears in the car.  I tried and tried to put the car into reverse but the dumb thing wouldn't budge.  Feeling like an idiot, I went back up to the Thrifty window and told them I couldn't figure out how to change gears.  The girl behind the counter came out to show me how it worked.  Only thing is, she couldn't figure it out either.  Needless to say, I felt slightly better about myself.  She called someone else to come and try and it didn't work for him either.  Just when he was about to suggest that I rent another car, his knee bumped the steering wheel and he was able to put the car in reverse.  I guess the steering wheel was locked.

So, feeling slightly out of place in a car that was just a tad different from my own, I pulled out of the parking lot and headed to my sister's in Saratoga Springs.  Having eaten only peanuts on my Southwest flight that day, I was happy to have a bite to eat at my sister's before heading to downtown Salt Lake for my interview.  I arrived at the parking garage at 1:15.  I walked around the corner into a ritzy office building.  I took the elevator up to the 9th floor where the doors opened into the most classy office space I've ever set eyes on.  After waiting for a moment in an extremely comfy chair next to the receptionist's desk, I was guided by the HR person into a conference room with a large glossy table and a panoramic view of Salt Lake.  She sat across the table from me and asked me questions about my experience for 30 minutes.  She told me that as a corporate paralegal in this firm, I would be working for the 15 corporate lawyers who worked there.  At around 2:00, the door opened and seven lawyers came streaming into the room.  All of them had copies of my resume on hand that they had highlighted and marked up so they could ask me questions.  More lawyers streamed in and out as the interview went on.  After about an hour of sitting there being grilled by experienced attorneys (grilled is probably the wrong word; they were actually all surprisingly nice), they all shook my hand and left the room.  The HR person told me she thought that the interview went well and that they seemed impressed.  She even called it "delightful."  While I had other words to describe it, I did feel good about it.  Even if I don't get this job, I am grateful for that experience.  I feel good that such a big prestigious firm even considered me as a possible candidate.  If I can get an interview there, I can get an interview anywhere.

I spent the night and the next day feeling quite confident and proud of myself.  The next morning I drove to Provo in my Mustang Convertible for Melissa's "Bachelorette Party" at Kneaders and to see some other old friends.  It was great to get all of my freshman year roommates, the Domestic Goddesses as we call ourselves, all together again.  These girls helped me to break out of my shy little shell and I am grateful for their friendship.

But when we become too prideful, we all need to be humbled, I suppose.  First, my mom called me and told me she thought I had forgotten my temple recommend, which on closer inspection of my wallet, I found that that was true.  I had to call my bishop and the Draper Temple so I could attend the sealing.  Second, as I was driving to the Draper Temple the next morning to go to Melissa and Curtis' sealing, I had a little incident on the road.  As I was making a right turn on a narrow road, I had a little brush with a semi-truck that was coming the opposite direction.  My front left fender grazed one of it's wheels and put a pretty serious "dent" just above my front left wheel.  Okay, it was a little more than a dent.  I pulled off the road just around the corner and sat in stunned silence for a while before calling my mom.  Mom told me I needed to get to the temple to make it in time for the wedding and that I should just try to forget about it until I could focus on it fully.  So I continued on my way, hearing something scrape under the car every time I hit a bump.  This was not good.

But I made it to the temple on time and was pleasantly surprised to see my friend Jen's Dad behind the front desk.  It's always nice to see an unexpected familiar face when you're in the depths of despair.  I found all of my old roommates sitting there.  They consoled me about my recent hardship and told me it was going to be okay.  The sealing was beautiful and I was thankful that I was able to be there for Melissa's special day.

Kory, Sandee, Caitlin, Melissa, Shauntelle, and me at the Draper Temple.

On the way back to Brigitte's from the luncheon, the stress and emotions of the day finally caught up with me.  I sobbed into Brigitte's shoulder when I arrived at her house.  Everyone kept telling me that everything was going to be alright, but how could it be?  I had just caused serious damage to someone else's property!  I'd have to call the rental place and tell them about my stupidity!  I'd have to pay the deductible and my insurance premiums would go up!  But things become a little clearer as time goes on.  I realized after talking to my insurance agent that, yeah, this was going to cost me some money but it could have been a lot worse.  I could have been injured but I wasn't actually hurt at all...physically anyway.  So I continued on with all my plans and had a cinnamon roll and big slice of chocolate cake at the reception with the rest of the Domestic Goddesses.  I was able to chat and laugh late into the night with my sister.  I was able to see old friends that I rarely see since I graduated from BYU.  Despite a few minor (and major) hiccups, it was a great trip and a vacation that was well worth the trouble.