Training week
Training week. This is the week where the band, volunteers, staff, and the Live Different Academy students all first get together as a team. I feel like I am able to see this week through a unique set of eyes. I have been fortunate to be a part of three LiveDifferent tours already, first as a student, and now as a road team leader.
As a student, I went through the fears of public speaking, the confusion of how to set up a full stage, and the excitement of being a part of a show that travels across the country. Now as a road team leader I get the opportunity to help walk people through training week. I have the privilege of watching a bunch of strangers learn knew skills and become a team. Training week is taking nothing and turning it into something. A lot of hard work goes into the making of the show. People begin struggling to coil up an extension cord and by the end are wrapping cords like pros. They begin knowing next to nothing about running concert style lights or working a soundboard and by the end they’ve owned their role in the show and seem like they were born for it.
All of the hard work pays off when the lights go down and the first show begins. As a road team leader I’m excited for the show but also very nervous, I don’t remember breathing during the first show at all. This is it; this is where all of the dedication and hard work will really show. This first show is a reminder of why I do what I do.
When I watch a student who started off the week stumbling through their partially memorized story get on stage and pour their heart out, the early mornings and lack of sleep no longer matter. When I watch a band that practiced over and over get on stage and wow the audience, the sweat and sore muscles fade away. Tour isn’t easy but each and everyday I am reminded of why I do it. I do it because there are amazing people in this world who really do want to create change and have a positive impact on students’ lives, and I am lucky enough to call them my team.
– Brittany, LiveDifferent Road Team Leader, Spring 2014