Sophomore Speech: 6th Grade Beginner Orchestra

When I was in 6th grade, I was an orcha-dork. I took beginner orchestra thinking I could escape exams, and while they weren’t written exams, these grades came in the form of playing tests called chair tests.  

And after our first chair test, this one guy stood out. Other than the fact that he was the only seventh grader in the class, he was also insanely good at playing the violin, earning him first chair and the title of ‘the God of our class’.

Unfortunately, he was so good, that everybody knew first chair was unattainable. So, they fought for second chair. And guess who second chair was (points to me) it was me.

So, every chair test, my buddies in third and fourth would literally stare at the back of my head, praying on my downfall like the good sports they were. I got nicknamed the ice queen of the class because my palms would always turn cold and clammy from the pressure. But somehow, fueled by adrenaline and the unrelenting urge as a 11-year-old to prove myself, I managed to stay second chair.

Until one day, I got sick. I missed a chair test. So, I went to school the next day like normal, had orchestra fourth period like normal, made up the chair test I missed, like normal, and got placed into first chair. Not like normal. I still remember when the results got announced, third chair fell out of his chair and fourth chair got up to start screaming with the rest of the class. Turns out that the one day I wasn’t here, first chair panicked and sped up a little bit during his test, botching a line. Of course everybody was floored that day, but nobody thought he’d be, dethroned. It was a very big deal for us sixth graders. And funnily enough, ever since that day all the violinists in my class started fighting for third chair. 

But that’s not the moral of the story. The moral of the story isn’t as simple as the fact that he messed up because he played quickly while I played slowly. Slow and steady only won the race because the hare got cocky and looked down on his opponent.

The moral of the story also isn’t a simple as a if you work hard you will succeed. Because while I was practicing, he was also practicing. We were both working hard, everyone in the section, we were all working hard.

The only difference was my consistency. Neither of us had every messed up on a chair test before and it was the fact that he made a mistake and I stayed consistent that I became first chair.

I mean, take Olympic medalists for example. They don’t just swim for 10 hours before the meet or run 5 kilometers the day before and cram all that practice in last minute, they train every day for years. It doesn’t matter if you work hard for those one or two days, it is this continues effort that produces results, even if it doesn’t seem like it at first. 

Because it’s not just working hard that matters, its consistently working hard. Everybody works hard, but not everybody works consistently. Thank you.