Musical Slide Tackle

2023 Youth Sunday

by Sarah Harris

One day in Sunday School, Lin told me that when she played soccer, at the start of
every game, she had one strategy that never failed to ease her nerves. The first thing she
always did was a slide tackle. Although I have no idea what a slide tackle is, I think I get
it. To me it sounds like it might have something to do with sliding and tackling. She
suggested that my version of this “slide tackle” should be an a capella version of a song
that means a lot to me to start my sermon. I think everyone has heard enough so I will not
be doing that this morning. However, this message Lin has provided me with has shown
itself recently as I move on to bigger things. This coming fall, I will be a music major at
UNCG. I’m overwhelmingly excited, although just like Lin’s soccer games, it wasn’t
easy to begin.
As a kid, my family often said I was singing before I learned to talk. I will always
remember the first song I “composed”, confidently titled “No One Loves my Pumpkin
More Than Me”. It was a heartfelt ballad about how (drum roll) no one loved my
pumpkin more than me. The lyrics were predictable, yet simple and classy. They were,
“no one loves my pumpkin more than me, I really don’t think. No one loves my pumpkin
more than me”. I sang in the car, I sang in the bathtub, I sang while I ate, I sang
constantly. By the time I was in 4th grade, I signed up for voice lessons. My first voice
teacher was a kind and sweet woman who understood my voice. My idea of what I was
capable of completely transformed when she introduced me to musical theater. One of
my earliest memories of performing was when I sang “Born to Entertain” from Ruthless
the musical. The title of that song is foreshadowing if you can’t tell. The joy I felt from
learning with her led me to finally put myself out there as a performer, and audition for a
show at The Community Theater of Greensboro. When she had to move on, I was so
incredibly lucky to begin lessons with Rydell Harrison. He not only gave me a new
confidence in myself as a singer that I had never had before, but he was a huge
inspiration for me to want to use music in a truly meaningful way. Rydell was somehow
able to pull a new voice out of me I had never heard before. A voice that just like his, was
able to feel meaningful and purposeful and spiritual. His influence on me is something I
will always keep with me.
The first musical I was ever a part of was Shrek the musical, and I was cast as a
“peacock fairy”, which if you’re familiar with Shrek at all, doesn’t really exist, and is
something they most likely used because I needed to be cast as something. But that didn’t

stop me from feeling fabulous in my sparkly purple and blue wings and tutu. In the next
show I was in, Dr. Doolittle Jr. I was overjoyed to be given a solo. The song “Save the
Animals” was my musical theater debut. This thrill that I was feeling while singing told
me that musical theater was what I needed to do.
So of course, in highschool, I auditioned for the Weaver Theater Program. I was
overwhelmingly excited to be accepted. I looked up to every student at Weaver as if they
were celebrities. The talent and intelligence and creativity that I witnessed starting
highschool was so inspiring. I vividly remember when I was cast in my very first Weaver
musical, Bring It On, which sadly closed a week before opening due to the pandemic. I
would sit in the audience while the upperclassmen rehearsed their solos. I wanted so
badly to be up there with them. However, during the pandemic, I spent tons of much
needed time away from the stage. It was devastating to me at first that we couldn’t carry
on with our normal shows and concerts, but after about a month, I was starting to realize
something. This feeling I had while I was singing for others in musicals, didn’t go away
as I sang to myself in my room. I didn’t need an audience in front of me, I didn’t need to
receive praise from anyone, and I didn’t need to land on a cast list to feel like a worthy
artist. I could sit in my room and sing to my walls, or my stuffed animals, and sometimes
my parents, and that was enough. I wasn’t getting anything out of it except the
satisfaction of being able to create art. At school, with the competitive nature of the arts,
my talents felt like they only served the purpose of earning me a role, or a shout out, or
just some recognition from my teachers. At home though, no one was watching or
rewarding me. Music and singing was for me, and how it made me better and less alone
during the pandemic.
After we were back in person, I was scarily close to having to make decisions
about where I was going to apply for college. I had huge choices to make, and I had no
idea what I wanted to do. My first instinct was acting, because why not? I had studied
acting for four years at this point, so that seemed like the obvious choice. However, the
more I sat in school and took my theater classes, the more I realized how easy of a choice
it really could be. I came to the eventual conclusion that just because I know a lot about
something doesn’t necessarily mean I’m passionate about it in any way. For example, I
just happen to know a lot about theater, and acting history. But did I really love it? The
answer came to me when I thought back on my experiences in Covid, and how prevalent
singing was in my childhood. It seems like I was singing every second of every day. To
say that I came to this conclusion alone though, would be a lie. Before Covid hit, and
now, I have been studying with Craig Richardson. He has helped me understand my

voice better as a young performer, and aided me in knowing my own voice and making
smart decisions as a singer, as well as always pushing me to want to learn more every
day. So finally, this idea of focusing on music in college became a reality as I started
applying to places.
This takes us back to my original point. Sometimes you just need that first “slide
tackle” in order to get going. Although I was incredibly nervous to apply for schools and
put myself out there as a musician, I knew I just needed to go for it. So I auditioned for
voice at 5 schools. I put myself out there somewhat on a whim and almost without
thinking, did something huge. That first audition was my slide tackle. It was that first step
that got me over the initial nerves. I got into all schools for music, but one. I settled on
UNCG being my top choice, and the day I got my acceptance letter was such a relief. As
I read the email confirming my acceptance, so much relief came over me. All I had to do
was take my first step.
Just like so many others my age, coming out of Covid and feeling like I had such
little time in highschool before moving to college, was such an overwhelming feeling. It
felt like I had been stuck inside for centuries, but oddly, it also seemed to feel like my life
flew by in those months in quarantine. However, this acceptance into such an amazing
school and music department, made me feel like I had so much to look forward to. Covid
had taught me that music was not about performing for others. The motivation I felt to
make and experience music was for me. I was not just searching for knowledge in order
to entertain others, though I love to do that too. I realized that no matter who is in front of
me, music is at the core of who I am, and I wanted to follow that.
It seemed funny to me that all this time I had spent all day every day doing
something, and never realizing how it could be a part of my life in a much bigger way.
“When You Believe” from The Prince of Egypt, was a song I learned with Rydell when I
was around 13, that had a line that read “We were moving mountains long before we
knew we could”. Committing to be a music major gave me a sense of power over myself
and my choices as a musician and what I’m able to achieve. That being said, College
Park, and most importantly our incredible youth group, has always been a place that has
never failed to welcome me and remind me that whatever I can bring to the table will
always be enough.
And I don’t understand how God shows up in the world. But I know that music
has always served as a bridge to spirituality in my life. Even when I can’t feel it, God

shows up every day, and has forever. I hear God on the way to school in the morning
with my coffee. I hear God in acoustic guitars and how they can fill a room with warmth.
I hear God in the way the sound of a violin seems to float lightly in the air. I hear God in
the way Rydell plays the piano. I even hear God in the way my friends scream sing their
favorite songs together. I believe that God is love, passion, laughter, joy, forgiveness,
family, friends, and for me, God is music. I can hear God in anything if I just listen.