Taking on the Hill can be a challenge for some students. The stress of assignments and the repetition of classes can sometimes become monotonous. This is why extracurricular activities can be refreshing.

Mechanical engineering student Kathleen Angerbauer is a member of the Choral Society.  

“I’ve grown up with music,” the Bowling Green sophomore said. “In high school, I was the music/choir person, but I knew I didn’t want to major in it.”

Angerbauer said she was always told even if she didn’t major in music to join a choir to keep it up.

“I found Choral Society and found it very convenient,” she said. “They meet one day a week in the evening.”

Paul Hondorp leads the Southern Kentucky Choral Society. A person must audition to join.

“It’s a mild audition,” Angerbauer said. “They want to know if you can read music.”

The society is open to the community also, not just students. However, WKU students can count it as a humanities class.

Angerbauer said she’s been singing ever since she could remember.

“It’s hard to put in words,” she said. “It makes me feel happy.”   

For her, choir is a stress reliever. She said it adds artistic expression to her science- and math-filled days.

“It’s a release for any thoughts or emotions you have over the week,” she said.  

Photojournalism and biology major and Shelbyville sophomore Machala Wells has been in a choir since she was 3.

“I can focus on fun, instead of being perfect,” Wells said.

She said her friends think it’s weird that she’s a member of the choral society.

“Choir is a community in and of itself, and there is always a sense of a family environment rather than a competitive environment,” Wells said.

She thought it was great that Hondorp allowed non-majors into the choir because she said they’re just as talented as majors can be.

Wells said singing benefits her because she’s a little bit of a diva.

“I love being on stage, and I love to perform,” she said. “To do that in not-as-quite-pressured of an environment is really really nice.”

She also appreciates the networking opportunities.

“Being in choral society will help me be able to jump into another community and perform,” she said. “It’s preparing me for the next ‘stage’ of my life.”

For Wells, if she cut choir out of her life, there would be a chunk missing because she’s in love with performing. She said she loves the community that supports her and holds her to the high standards that the majors and graduate assistants are held to.

Special education student Lindsey Basham, a Bowling Green junior, is in Women’s Chorus. 

Basham said this was her fourth semester being in the choir and there were no disadvantages to fitting it into her schedule.

“It’s a way of expression,” she said. “It’s not really a class.”