Written by Monique Y Jacques
The TNT, Zeta Rho and Friends’Spring Singdirectors are feeling a host of emotions as they enter this weekend’s performances with the pressure of last year’s sweep of awards on their shoulders.
Senior Alana Smith and junior Tandi Morgan sat surrounded by glitter, hot glue and piles of homemade police uniforms as they joked playfully with one another about the last seven months of preparation for their show, “Flawed Enforcement.”
The duo said the group has a lot to live up to because last year’s show won first place in every category.
“I’ve had to remind myself and a lot of other people that it is a completely different show this year,” Morgan said. “It is a different feeling, a different format. I mean last year’s show was great and we’re really proud of them, but this year is just a completely different show. It’s a new year.”
The directors begin planning and meeting deadlines early in the fall semester and said they are putting in tedious hours of work, like all other show directors, in hopes of making the show the best it can be.
Morgan said it has been more work than she anticipated, with reponsibilities extending beyond just practicing, but that it was bitter-sweet to see the end. However, she added that it would be nice to catch up on some things after the show — like sleep.
“The first thing I’m going to do is take a nap…for a week,” Morgan said.
Spring Sing attracts thousands of alumni and family members of students to Harding yearly. Along with generating revenue for the campus, student director Kaitlin Schaffer said Spring Sing enriches students’ lives, and that she has been stretched through the opportunity, by learning valuable leadership skills.
Smith said the show brings together one of Harding’s key themes: camaraderie.
“I know it sounds cheesy, but the best part about Spring Sing is the camaraderie,” Smith said. “I think Spring Sing is a really good way to show how Harding gets the students involved and brings however many thousands of people together for one purpose.”
