Chapter 43

So breakdancing is gaining prominence in my life in university. How was everything else? Well, my studies were doing decently well since my high school prepared me well but for classical music? Well, it was a bust. You see, the UW Orchestra only practiced on Thursdays and in First Year science undergrad I had a lab at that time in both my semesters. There was simply no way to do any type of classical music and also do my labs. I was out of luck. 

I thought I could just power through this and find some other way of doing something more musical in my first semester but soon found that I was unable to find anything. Then, in my second semester of university, I came upon another outlet for music. While it wasn’t classical music, it was still music and with a group. 

I had found out about acapella groups.

I had basically found it by accident. In the music department of Waterloo, I searched for anything that a cellist could participate in but found no luck. Then, on my way out, I saw a sign that said “Auditions for the Unaccompanied Minors (acapella club)”. Turns out, that was alluding to the only mixed gender auditioned acapella ensemble on campus.  When I got home after seeing that sign, I did a quick facebook search and found their page. On their page, I also found the link to audition and sure enough, I auditioned and I got in. I think it helped that I could sight read music quite well from all the interval training I had done with RCM and could sing decently from all that time with my high school choir. Actually, I considered this new hobby an extension that evolved from my choir days in highschool. 

If you’ll recall, highschool choir had left a very wholesome image of singing in my head and I figured I would continue that in some way or form in University especially since classical music with my cello was off the table. And so, in my second term in university, I would join the Unaccompanied Minors, a funny name I know, and we would go on to have quite the relationship. The first thing I noted was that acapella was very much like a choir but much more fun. We now had an exciting beatboxer that kept things lively and were doing music we actually listened to. While that timeless and calm mixture of perfectly tuned voices in a chapel was lost, I still felt the feeling of togetherness with this new group. Furthermore, we were now doing things that had way more complexity than anything in choir. 

Thinking back, I didn’t like the way I treated acapella. You see, I always put it on the backburner. I saw it always as secondary to my main career goals and more so as simply a substitute to classical music and cello playing. I enjoyed the company of my fellow members and would be lying if I said I regretted any amount of time I spent with them but in truth, I was simply a part timer. I often even skipped socials with the Unaccompanied Minors to cram for exams too. No one batted an eye on this, after all, they were all students like me and we knew that GPA was important. Still, I felt bad. Unlike the breakdancers, this was an auditioned group with limited seating. Though I held up the minimal amount of commitment to the group, I felt like that was a half measure.

Just like breakdancing, though I wasn’t 100% happy with the commitment, it was sustainable. In university, if you could do something with a balanced study and extracurricular schedule, it was a win. It didn’t often feel like it since there’s always this feeling of being held back by something but this was the only way to not drop all extracurriculars or your studies all together. Just like with breaking, this meant I would be a part of the acapella group for ages to come. In the next 8 years and over countless semesters, I would be an on again and off again member of the unaccompanied minors as well as a few other acapella groups and as it turns out, though being a part timer felt a bit flaky, it was worth it. 

I think my relationship with acapella was exemplary of what it meant to be a university student. You aren’t in highschool anymore and can no longer have the world move for you so you can have your cake and eat it too. But you now have the freedom and power to move your own world to the best way of which you saw fit. While you couldn’t have your cake and eat it too, you could eat half your cake and have half of it too. Half measures can be bargained on the incremental level. You have an exam coming up? Well, you’ll have to skip a practice session with your section. You have a concert coming up? Well, maybe you have to cram for that midterm a bit earlier than you anticipated. You now have the power and can move your own schedule for it. Sounds like it might work out right? 

Well…

In truth, I only made this all work out by bargaining with one thing. One thing I used was pretty much like a currency. That’s right, I traded everything with sleep. By this I meant that I would often sacrifice sleep to have my cake and eat it too. How did I do this? Easy. Have an exam? Pull an all nighter. Have a concert? Pull an all nighter a few nights earlier to study for the exam then do the concert. Trying to fix your now completely ruined sleep schedule? Another all nighter it is. I can say for certain that this was a horrible way to go about your day and something I would never recommend to anyone. That being said, I think I must have pulled at least 20 all nighters in my entire university career and probably wouldn’t have gotten to where I am today without it.

Was it worth it though? For acapella. Usually the answer was yes. Why? I got lucky enough to be in the generations that saw the rise of ICCAs and see the Waterloo acapella groups grow into international renown. I was proud that I was a part of the history that was made and glad to have been part of the milestones they achieved. Which milestones am I referring to? There’s a two that stand out.

The first milestone in acapella I was happy to be part of was about getting completely destroyed at the first ICCAs competition with the Unaccompanied Minors. This was the first time our acapella groups in Waterloo chose to do ICCAs and the first time a Canadian group competed too (I think). That was the International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella (the same competition that was in Pitch Perfect the movie). This also marked the beginning of a tradition of our University’s a cappella groups competing in ICCAs in the future. 

The other notable milestone I was part of the first Spotify song posted by a University of Waterloo Acapella group (look up One Last Time by the Waterboys on spotify or watch us here on YT: https://youtu.be/8nHThnUgPhw?si=NhuFG1ts_Zd0gA6i). That will happen a while away in the future when I was on my last term as a University of Waterloo student and a member of a different auditioned acapella group, The WaterBoys. That was notable because not only was it a project that will forever be somewhere on the internet but also served as the legacy project to my time in Waterloo acapella. More on my time with the WaterBoys later though.

Milestones or not, the point is this. I had to do a lot of compromising in terms of joining and not joining clubs. Sacrificing things was a common trend for university students. Afterall, we’re pretty much all adults now. No one was there to scold you for missing practice or not doing well.  When conflicts around those things came up, it was usually resolved internally and between members. We had to take care of our own problems and set our own goals and desires. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t. In the end, it’s always going to be a trade off between the clubs and experience you wanted and your studies. I suppose that was the reason why between those two milestones, there was a large gap of around 7 years. 7 empty years.

During those 7 years, there were tons of other milestones that the acapella scene had gotten. I missed the first time our concerts got proper mic equipment and the first time one of our auditioned groups got to semi-finals at ICCAs for the first time in Canadian history. I also missed the first time the group that got to semi-finals at ICCAs got a letter from the prime minister of Canada telling them how proud he was with their successes. I missed all of that and I’m sure if I looked into it, I would have found much more missed milestones.

Am I sad about how much I missed out for being an on again and off again acapella member? Not really. In my mind. There was no possible way to fit any more acapella into my schedule if I tried. Or at least there was no other way to do more acapella if I wanted to still end up with a career after university. In the end, I came to accept this part of my life. So I guess it’s fine. I have to be at peace with it. I now look back on my time with acapella and smile at the experiences we all shared and cherish how fleeting they were. They were some of the most fun I’ve ever had.

Did I want more experiences with acapella? Yes. But in an adult world, I don’t think my relationship with acapella could have played out any other way.