Here we were in the hotel room. Breaking a few rules that could have ruined our entire trip. This was our choir’s Carnegie Hall performance trip. Carnegie Hall is one of the most famous halls in the world. There were a few other choirs that participated, but our choir hosted the entire thing. It was such an honor to just be there. As an eleven year old, I was going to be performing in New York in front of hundreds of people. The beautiful red seats in the audience, the faces of many others, the beautiful architecture. All of this, right in front of me. Many people wouldn’t have the opportunity to perform there in their lives. Everything could have been taken away, just because we were trying to have fun.

     Let me take you back to when this all began... “I’m so bored!” I exclaimed. My roommates appeared to be having a lot of fun by being on their phones and blocking the rest of the world out. I didn’t want to do this anymore. I didn’t want to be trapped in a small and stuffy room with absolutely nothing to do. Things must be done. Knowing that my friends that are always having fun are right next door, I broke a big rule, and entered their room. They were completely fine with it. All they wanted to do was make sure that I had a plan if any of the adults came by. Kath was happy that I came and was ready to have fun. She had a lot of fun just talking. I remember her having a big smile, large eyes, with a very boney figure. Kath could always make a joke out of anything.

     We had decided to play hide-and-seek in the dark. This could be potentially dangerous because of the gigantic lamps in the room, but just playing hide-and-seek wouldn’t cut it for us. The room was very small, considering that it held five people that were trying to hide well. The dark made it harder to find people, making it more fun. We were enjoying our time and were getting very loud. There were two big rules given during the pre-trip meeting. You may not go into another person’s room and you cannot make a lot of noise. If you are too loud, you will be sent home from the trip without performing at Carnegie Hall. We were all terrified of that happening. While playing, we got a knock on the door and I immediately hid in the bathroom because I was scared it would be a chaperone. My heart was beating as I was trying to listen in on the conversation. It wasn’t what I expected, it was worse. It was a person from another choir claiming that they can’t sleep because we were being too loud and rowdy. We quickly apologized, confused, It was about two in the afternoon.

     “Guys, we need to be more quiet, we don’t want her to come back,” Kath whispered to us. After trying to play silently, we burst into laughter and nearly knocked a lamp over. There was a pounding on the door. BOOM. BOOM. It stops. We decide not to answer. “HEY OPEN THE DOOR!” We’ve decided not to open the door. The girl was standing outside, staring into the peephole. I hid in the bathroom while closely listening in. Slightly shaken, I considered the consequences that could occur. She’s almost yelling. “Can you guys seriously be quiet! Some people are trying to sleep. Please respect that. If you can’t, I’ll tell the front desk and maybe then you’ll be quiet.” I saw Kath quickly nod her head and apologized, then closed the door. I came out and I saw them with their eyes wide. We all decided to go back to being quiet, which involved me going back to my room of pure boredom. We were all terrified that she would actually talk to the manager and we all could be sent home.

     I silently ran to my room and came in out of breath. I jumped onto my bed and dug my head into the large white pillows. I was so nervous about being caught. “Hey where were you?” asked Ishani, one of my roommates and fellow choir members. She turned off her phone and looked a little upset. “You could have gotten into a lot of trouble,” she said knowing, that I was in a different room. Luck played a part this time. If not, I would never have gotten to perform at one of the most famous halls in the world.
     After a few days went by, performance day came. There was a terrible force of wind resisting you and a heavy rain, making the streets even more chaotic. The fact that there were no umbrellas made it absolutely horrible to deal with. We were wearing Capezio pants which are long and a very delicate material. If you get them wet, they will most definitely stay wet, and probably be ruined. As we approached the building, I instantly pictured a wonderful moment of singing up there, enjoying the crowd. The entrance wasn’t as beautiful as I thought it would be, since we were entering from the back. There was gum all over the concrete before we stepped onto a glamorous floor that shined in the bright lighting. There was a woman who welcomed us at the entrance. “Welcome to Carnegie.”