My freshmen year of college, I was struggling to find a sense of community. I applied for everything from community service clubs to the retreat team and auditioned for every theater group on campus. No matter what I tried, I kept being rejected. When theater is one of your hobbies, rejection is to be expected, but I was still frustrated. In high school, my mom called me “Sign Me Up Girl” because of all the activities I was in.
At college, I had to start over. Students define themselves by the dorm they live in and by the activities they join. At that point I hadn’t clicked with anyone in my dorm. I was a member of the women’s choir, but that club was more focused on singing than making friends. I loved my school and the friends I had made so far, but as the second semester started, I still had not found my niche on campus.
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Then one day I got an email from the director of the Gloria Dei Choir, which sings at my school’s 8 p.m. mass every Sunday. He said that I had signed up for the choir at the college club fair and asked me when I could start. I was a member of the church choir in my hometown parish since 7th grade and had thought about signing up for church choir at Fordham, but I had never followed through. I was thoroughly confused as to how my name got on the list, but I decided to roll with it.
Looking back, joining that choir was one of the best decisions I made at college. Not only did I find a way to serve God through song, I also found a place where I feel accepted. I was a choir and theater kid all throughout high school. Although I enjoyed these activities, I never really felt like I belonged. I was always worried about what people thought of me. I never feel that way at Gloria Dei choir. My director creates such a friendly atmosphere that even shy people like myself feel welcome. I have made some great friends from my friend who calls me her “mom” to my director who gives me advice about classes to take. Even the people I’m not close to are familiar faces in the sea of once mostly unknown students. By joining choir, I didn’t just find an activity to keep me busy. I found a place where I can meet new people while doing something that gives me so much life.
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I like to joke that God signed me up for church choir. He may not have actually written my name on the list, but God did intervene in my life when I needed him most. Like most freshmen, I felt lost. Being in a new situation is always nerve wracking, but this experience taught me to follow God’s plan. Church choir was such a big part of my life in high school, and I was going to give it up. God showed me that the community I was looking for was right in front of me every Sunday at mass. So don’t hesitate when God signs you up for something. Trust that what God has in store for you may take you places you’ve never planned.
