By Sarah Garrett
Earlier in April, the Singers class took a trip to Truist Park to sing the National Anthem for the Braves game. The class had been practicing for weeks, nervous but excited for the big day. The game was set to start around 1:30, but the class headed to the stadium around 9 am to begin to prepare for the day.
The Singers class normally sings the National Anthem once a year at Lovett’s homecoming, and if you’re a senior, you will also sing it on Football and Cheer Senior Night. Because of this, the class had memorized the National Anthem perfectly; however, by the time the Spring semester rolls around, it is necessary to practice it again to get a reminder. Mrs. Ulrich used a small section of class time each rehearsal to practice, but the class also had the Spring concert and voice recital coming up, so the whole hour couldn’t be dedicated to the National Anthem each day.
Mrs. Ulrich worked very hard to set this up for the class as a surprise. It had not been a planned event that the class knew about since August, so everyone was super excited when they heard about it. In the past years, the Singers class has performed the National Anthem on their New York trip in February. However, because it was the first time going back to NY since Covid, it has been harder to find places to sing since we had fallen out of touch with some of our contacts. Because of this, everyone was thrilled to get the chance to sing the National Anthem at the Braves game.
The Seniors in the class, including myself, were very grateful to get this opportunity before we graduate. “I think because we came into the class during Covid we missed out on some of the exciting parts of Singers, but Ms. U has worked so hard to make up for every lost opportunity. We are super appreciative of how hard she works for the class,” Walker Turner said.
The day of the Braves game the weather started out a little funky. It was raining on and off and was a little bit windy. We were worried that the game might get canceled, but luckily it ended up being a beautiful day. While we sang, it was drizzling, but after that, the game got postponed an extra 30 minutes. We used this time to get some good ballpark food. What is better than a hotdog and fresh popcorn at a baseball game? By the time we were done eating, the sun was out bright and shining. I even ended up getting a little sunburnt!
Going to sing at a Braves game was nerve-wracking. Because it was the first time our class had sung the National Anthem somewhere other than at Lovett, I think some people were a little nervous. “I was antsy going into it, but once we started singing I felt confident,” Mary Lanigan, a freshman in the class said. Because we practiced so much in class, I think it felt natural to everyone.
Everyone loved soaking up the sun at the game and making a few more fun memories as a class before the year was over. We are all super grateful to Ms. U for everything she has done to make the class so fun and memorable.
“When I watched the video of us singing, we sounded so great,” Corinne Dunlap. “I think all of our practice and hard work really paid off.”
And go braves!
