I lay in my room gazing at the shadows made by cars driving by on my ceiling. My stomach felt as if my dinner was twisting around inside of it, trying to get out. I rolled over desperately trying to fall asleep. A couple weeks ago I had taken a seating audition for my new orchestra where they arrange us in our instrument sections based on how well we could play the music for the orchestra. It’s simple, the strongest musicians sit in the front, weakest in the back. Normally this would have been no problem for me, but this year was different. The music was a lot harder than what I would normally play, and I had competition. Two of my classmates that had a ton of talent had joined my orchestra this year. In was no longer sure whether I was going to make it into the first violin section, the best section of violins in the orchestra. I had to beat them.

Over the weeks before the audition, I made sure I was guaranteed a better chair than both of them. I practiced for extensive hours, and listened to recordings of the music to make sure my intonation was just right. I began to loose sight of the fact that we were all just in the orchestra for fun, not for competition. By the time the audition had come, I was ready. And now, tomorrow was our first practice and I would find out if I had beaten them. I closed my eyes harder and finally fell into a hopeless sleep knowing that if I didn’t beat them I would be crushed.

The next day, I sat in my car seat fidgeting like crazy. I had my hair pulled up in a tight bun and I gripped the handle of my violin case like if I let go I would die. The car cruised along the highway too fast. I didn’t want to see what seat I had gotten. If it wasn’t good, I wouldn’t want to play in orchestra. There would be no reason for me to continue playing. I couldn’t settle for last.


By the time the car reached the orchestra’s practice building in Chicago I was sick to my stomach. I hopped out of the car onto the street and said bye to my dad. I walked into the building and began my ascent up the staircase. With every step I shook more. I had it so set into my mind that if I didn’t beat my classmates my world would be over. When I reached the eighth floor I walked down the dooming hallway. Shadows appeared from around the corner. I finally rounded the corner and walked toward the table with the seating cart on it.

As I approached it my heart boomed. I looked at the sheet and immediately looked at the third violin section: Hu, Anderson, Collins..... Not my name! My mind began to flood with hope. My eyes darted over to the second violin section list: Williams, Jones, Lee..... Not me again! It was not possible! I looked over to the first violin list: ..... Shcolz, Seikel! I was in the first violins! The very last stand but I had made it! I started to jump around and squeal with delight until I saw something.

My two friends in school that I had worked so hard to beat we standing next to me. Amber had made second violins, and Cole made the third violins. I looked at the disappointment in their faces and said something that I don’t know where It came from, but I changed my entire point of view. I said, “Hey guys, don’t worry about it. We’re here to have fun. The whole seat thing doesn’t really matter because we are all just as good musicians whether we’re sitting in last chair or first. We wouldn’t all be here if we weren’t.” The expressions on their faces lightened up as we ran down the hallway that I had thought was going to make or break my life, but instead it just changed me for the better.

The truth is, life isn’t always about winning. Sure, sometimes I have to give everything I have to get something I really want, but when competition involves my friends and something we should all really be doing for fun, how I am ranked compared to them shouldn’t matter. In orchestra, all the players need to be united or else the melody won’t work. I was the one that was’t playing in time, and in order to have had fun, I needed to realize what was important.