Upon returning home for Thanksgiving, I was hesitant about visiting my high school. I had made many great memories there, but did not want to have flashbacks to the daily stress and anxiety that had been constants in my life for four whole years. With a nervous pit in my stomach, I drove myself back to Plymouth North High School, and was welcomed with open arms back into the chorus room - a place that I had called home. It was like I had never left.

Though at first sight, my high school chorus room is just a room with vomit colored carpets, to everyone in the music department, it is a second home. I spent so many mornings there ranting about the upcoming days, and spent so many afternoons literally laying on the floor stressed out over the night’s worth of homework and my imminent doom.

It was not always like this for me, however. My freshman year of high school was a year full of fear, shyness, and building walls up around myself, which contributed significantly to the anxiety that I still have today. I was scared, but needed something to end the silence in my life, to make my life better, and the only thing I thought that I could maybe find relief with was music. I was in the school band, but playing the flute had never provided me with as much pleasure as singing did. Not having the ability to sing during the school day hurt me, as it was the one thing that helped me feel like myself.

At the beginning of my sophomore year, I saw flyers around the school advertising for an all female a cappella group called Girl Treble, and decided to attend the informational meeting to see what it was all about. It was at this meeting that I met the infamous Mr. Grossman, (better known as just Grossman to anyone in the department) who explained with a glimmer of hope on his face that we each had the ability to make a difference in the music department. The one thing I vividly remember from this day was Grossman saying “if you let it, this group can and will change your life.” He was not wrong.

Over the next three years, this group became my family. As an only child, it felt like I had found a group of sisters I could lean on in any given situation - from a bad test grade, to a pet passing away, to friend drama, they were always there for me. Girl Treble opened up so many opportunities to me and helped me come out of my shell more than any other club I had ever taken part in. By the end of my senior year, I had learned how to beatbox and was one of the group’s main vocal percussionists, and had my first solo ever during my last concert with the group.

Because of Girl Treble, I then joined the choir and drama club, two other groups that I let change my life for the better. The friends I have made through this department are ones that I know will always be at my side, whether they are still in Plymouth, half an hour away in Boston, or hours away in Delaware. They are my support system.

Grossman, thank you for always having faith in me. It is because of you that I kept an open mind.

Girl Treble, thank you for helping me find my voice over the three most important years of my life so far.

And to the chorus room of Plymouth North, even though your carpets may be ugly, thank you for helping me find my voice and welcoming me back with open arms. I’ll be back soon, I promise.