For all the peculiarities that Woodbridge students were known for, the most commendable of it would have to be their school spirit. Nearly every blue-blooded Woodbridge student was a good sport but, would not hear a single word against his school. They were proud o their school and its sometimes rather dubious heritage. Nevertheless, all of them rallied together in times of need. One such occasion would be the Annual Concert which was strangely held every two years only. Now, the Annual Concert was a big deal in Woodbridge. In Allen’s previous experiences the annual Concert had provided him with an unparalleled opportunity to raid the school library or catch up with pending work or in some cases even advance work. But, as mentioned earlier the school Principal Mrs. Yale thought of an extraordinary plan to get students like Allen involved in the Annual concert; everyone who was not participating was supposed to report to the school ground and exercise in the sun for more than an hour. This scared Allen, and forced him to think of some way to duck out of the Exercise Routine. Allen decided to audition for the school play. Initially for the want of a better looking actor, Allen was chosen as one of the leads. Allen was very happy, not that he got the lead in the play which was one of the highlights of the Concert but because he was able to avoid being in the sun! But, as luck would have it, the director of the play Mrs. Alexia an elderly lady with impeccable English and manners found a better suited Leading man for her play, thus resulting in Allen’s prompt exit from the play. By then most of the other parts in the pay had already been casted and there were no roles howsoever meagre for Allen. Allen was distraught, his friends thought it was because he lost the lead, little did they know that the reason Allen was now petrified and miffed beyond solace was because of the strong possibility of him being summoned to exercise in the sun.
Now, Allen was left with nowhere else to go! Everywhere he went to apply for it seemed no one needed more people. He even nurtured a fleeting thought of joining the incredibly famous Woodbridge Fashion show. Now, the Woodbridge Fashion show was so famous that it was almost a tradition and the students who participated in the show considered themselves blessed and extremely lucky. It was the part of the show no-one missed. All the girls would dress-up like their moms or according to the latest fashion trends and the boys would copy the styles from all the latest flicks. Obviously, Allen saw this show as despicable and devoid of any logic. Allen was ready to forgo his principles just at the thought of avoiding physical labour. But, ultimately his soul won and he did not even audition for it; this is what he told himself. Actually, he was pretty sure that he would be rejected form there too but he was not in any condition to handle another rejection. So, in order to avoid notice that he was not involved in the concert in anyway. Allen would quietly go the School play practice sessions with his books and read! This went unnoticed for some time, but then Mrs. Alexia noticed that she had an extra actor with her. So, she had him read for the actors who could not come to practice or was late. He was the universal understudy for all the actors. Allen did not mind this at all; he now had a legitimate reason of being in the play practice. Mrs. Alexia was pleased with Allen she admired the grace with which Allen had come back to the practice even though he was fired! Allen decided that it was in his best interest not to speak and clarify the real reason for him being at the practices.
Soon the news of Allen’s so called school-sprit reached the faculty room. Now to the teachers, Allen was the guy who despite being very harshly dealt with did not shed a tear and conducted himself with the utmost poise and grace; he was praised and now was a much revered student.
Allen’ s luck was changing. Soon, as a reward for being so selfless during the whole ordeal; he was asked to compare for the concert. To say Allen was ecstatic would be an understatement. Everyone who was anyone in Woodbridge dreamt of that job. Now, just a few months in the school Allen had unwittingly managed to earn a much valued job and along with it some rivalries too.
The job it seemed suited Allen well. Even though Allen had never managed something of such great proportions. Now Allen was an integral part of the planning and execution of the concert. Even though he missed his time with the books he enjoyed his time at the practice sessions. This was the start of a new Allen, Allen now explored worlds beyond his PC and books. He was asked to write short introductions to the various programmes. Thus began his journey into the realm of creative writing and expressing himself. Allen was going through a metamorphosis; he was learning management, people skills, linguistics and living a teenage life for the first time in his sheltered Life.
This was not Allen’s first foray into public speaking in Woodbridge or otherwise. Allen had always dreamt of being a good Orator. Yet, being humiliated in public was also Allen’s worst nightmares. Unfortunately Allen had been through that more than once in his lifetime. The first time it happened Allen was still a kid and was reading at Woodbridge, it was a fancy dress competition and every student was supposed to go on the stage and say a few words, when it was Allen’s chance- he froze on the stage and did not understand what had happened it was later on that Allen discovered that is was typical stage fright. Allen was devastated and utterly humiliated the pain of which could be felt by him even today. After that he did several skits at various school functions with a varied degree of success. Then came proper speeches, the first few of them went satisfactorily. But, it was the last speech that effectively completely decimated Allen’s confidence. It was an inter house debate and a lot was riding on Allen to perform well during it. Once again- Allen froze, succumbed to the pressure and forgot and completely mixed up his speech. This to Allen was a glowing example of his worthlessness and his failure. To this day, Allen recalls that day as the day when he failed himself. So, personally to Allen this was an opportunity to redeem himself of his past. If he could pull this off he would rise in his own eyes.
During the course of the concert Allen learned a lot about Woodbridge, it was his chance to see what Woodbridge was all about. He learned to live like it meant something. He was actually happy. When he got home in the evening after the rehearsals- Allen, felt tired and at the same time elated and like he was working at something that was tangible and something that he could be potentially good at. Allen still was the understudy for the play but now for completely different reasons. He was there because he wanted to be a part of something, not because he was trying to escape some physical labour. Allen, decided to put his all into the concert and worked to achieve the best results. Through the concert he made several acquaintances and helped many of his classmates along the way, thus gaining their trust and favour. Now his classmates saw him not just as a geek but as a potential friend and treated him like one of them.
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