Last weekend I was blessed with an opportunity to perform at the BSU Black Wall Street ball here on campus. An amazing experience that has pushed me another step forward in my career.
This chance to perform in front of fellow classmates and faculty members was offered to me about a month prior to the event. Nichal, a friend of mine, who also is one of my top Spotify listeners, reached out to me asking if I’d like to perform. One thing I am very adamant about is accepting any and every opportunity to perform because it’s something that brings me joy and that I consider as practice as I continue to move forward. I was already excited when I was told that I’d also be getting paid. With this being only my second time getting paid to perform my excitement and anticipation kicked into high gear.
The ball was the last event of the month-long Kubma Fest held every year on campus. Before this event was a talent show. I decided to sign up for this as well to get myself ready for the real performance and to promote the ball. The issue was though, I felt that I did terrible at the talent show. With this being my first time performing since the summer I became fatigued very quickly and barely made it out of my set. This left me frustrated and a little discouraged. However, shortcomings do nothing but motivate me to do better next time. It sent me a message that I need to be more mindful of my physical health and conditioning as I continue to get older. No longer am I a teenager that can just run on stage with a whole lot of energy without losing much breath, not saying I’m old or anything, but I’m definitely getting older and completely out of shape. Outside of getting my set list together, that week of preparation involved a lot of breathing exercises and taking pills to release gas that had been trapped in my stomach. I was so relieved the morning of the ball to not feel any bloating and was prepared for a fun night.
Even though this was a dress up event I expressed that this would be an issue for me when I came to pants. As it pertains to performing I’m a very active person that enjoys dynamic movement. With that in mind I pleaded to wear jogging pants so I wouldn’t rip the only black dress pants that I have. When I arrived at the bear cave in my half decent attire, I ran a little mic check and helped in whatever way I could to make sure everything was set for the night. Everyone that attended were dressed to impress to the point where it almost felt like prom again. Every seat wasn’t filled, but the people who were there made the most of it, creating a fun and free experience. Instead of performing the four songs that we had planned all at once we spread it out giving me time to catch my breath and others time to be social and eat as well. By the end of the night everyone was dancing, doing hustles together, and even a short lived dougie and stanky leg contest.
No comments:
Post a Comment