Lily Katherine Nuckolls reflects on her experience traveling with Saint Mary's Chorale to perform as part of the Windy City Choral Festival at Chicago's Symphony Center. She says "I learned lessons I believe will serve me well later in life and lead me on a path to success."
The Saint Mary's Chorale traveled this March to perform at the Windy City Choral Festival in Chicago's Symphony Center. Despite having visited Chicago prior to this, I learned about and experienced many aspects of the city for the first time. Each day of our trip was packed with activities in the city. We visited the Field Museum of Natural History and the Shedd Aquarium on our first day. Those museums were informative in an interactive way. We watched a 3D movie and learned about Chinese royalty in the Field Museum, and enjoyed an amazing water show at the aquarium.
The next day we visited the 360 Building, formerly the John Hancock, and went all the way up to the 94th floor. Once at the top of the building, we were given the opportunity to ride the Tilt, a machine that allows passengers to lean over the Chicago skyline at 1,000 
feet in the air! As you may imagine, this was an intimidating excursion. One thing I noticed was the atmosphere of support and encouragement as girls summoned the courage to venture onto the Tilt platform. We also toured Millennium Park, and took pictures in front of the famous Cloud Gate, also known as the "Bean." We dined at many of the restaurants that Chicago is known for, such as Giordano's Pizza and Portillo's. Sharing a meal was a great way to get to know the city and its culture. This trip helped me see Chicago in a new way because of the many different parts of the city we visited. Also, through this trip, I also grew closer to girls in classes and grades different from mine with whom I may not have had the opportunity to know otherwise. Traveling together was a great way for us to become more familiar with an exciting city, to expand our musical knowledge, and to bond as a group.
The Saint Mary's Chorale, along with a handful of other schools from around the country, was selected to perform in the Windy City Chorale Festival. We were conducted and taught by Z. Randall Stroope, a world-renowned conductor who has written many of the songs the Saint Mary's Chorale has performed in past years. We came together with the other schools for nine hours of rehearsal over the course of the trip. The progress we made from the first rehearsal to the final one was amazing. Not only did we grow musically as a group, but we also got to know our peers from other schools. As an all-girls chorale, we mainly sing songs arranged for women, but the coed makeup of the group offered us the opportunity to sing pieces that we otherwise would not have the ability to perform. Our Chorale was also invited to perform individually to open the performance at Orchestra Hall. This performance was one of the most incredible experiences I have ever had. Overall, our musical skill and knowledge grew tremendously over the course of the trip.
The Saint Mary's Chorale is not only a musical group, but a big family as well. Building close relationships is one of the main goals of our teacher, Ms. Moran. She reminds us before big performances that it has been that proven that when a group sings together, the members' heart beats become synchronized. I think this is her way of letting us know that despite the nerves we are feeling, we are all in it together. Through this trip we became even closer, which will allow us to collaborate in even greater ways in future performances. The trip not only enhanced our musical skills and knowledge but gave us a sense of togetherness which overall made our Saint Mary's family even closer.
This trip is just one of the many incredible opportunities Saint Mary's School has provided me over my past three years here. I consider myself very fortunate to be a student at such an amazing school, and experiences like this have enhanced my high school education. I attribute my positive high school experience partially to being involved in something as special as Chorale. My involvement has taught me more than how to match pitch or read sheet music. Through it I have learned lessons that I believe will serve me well later in life and lead me on a path to success.