Thanks to all of you who entered the Sarah Vonderhaar contest last week! Big congrats to cver and Lise with their amazing answers on their fave music moments! Everyone had such moving answers…Enjoy the winning entries behind the cut. They each won an autographed copy of Sarah Vonderhaar’s debut album “Are You Listening Now” AND surprise! A $10 Gift Certificate. Don’t forget to check out Sarah’s MySpace to hear tracks from the album.

cver
In sixth grade my best friends and I all became really obsessed with the song “99 Luftballons” (not very original, i know.) Later that year I made the incredibally tough decision to leave all my friends and switch to a new school. Two years later when I was eigth grade (yes, that was last year) all of friends from my old school were graduating, but I wasn’t because my school is 7th though 12th grade. So I went to their eigth grade graduation ceremony, and at first I felt a little odd and out of place. Most of my kindergarten classmates were up there and I was just sitting in the audience. My best friend was chosen as the class speaker and she spoke about all these times that their class had had so much fun and most of them I wasn’t a part of. And then I sat there as their names were called to recieve their “diplomas” (remember, this is only an eigth grade graduation) and it was weird that names were called that I didn;t recognize. I honestly felt like I was going to cry and that maybe my name should have been called because at the time I was having a rough year at school and thought that maybe I should have never switched.

Then they all filed out of the auditorium and into the school’s courtyard as “Don’t Stop Believing” played. I went to the courtyard and all my friends screamed and they were like “OH MY GOD! YOU CAME!” Later every person in the graduating class was given a blue balloon (the school colors were white and blue) and my friend had an extra, she gave it to me and said “You’ve always been one of us. This is your graduation, too.” So I took the balloon and then at the same time everyone released theirs into the sky (despite global warming.) We all stood there and then I started singing: “You and I in a little toy shop, bought a bag of balloons with the money we got…” Next thing I knew the entire grade was singing as “49 Blue Balloons” went up into the sky. That moment was a really big deal for me, mostly knowing that I belonged somewhere and The Charter School never forgot me.

Lise
My greatest music moment was, and is, whenever I hear the song “Amazing Grace”. We sing it at my church often, and it never fails to give me chills. The people in my church may not be opera singers, and they may not even be on-key, but when we sing that song, in all its beauty, we sound like a trained choir. Sometimes, in the middle of the song, I stop singing for a few moments, and I just listen. It gives me such a sense of peace, safety, and strength. “Amazing Grace” reminds me of the blessings I have in my life, and how lucky I am to be so loved.