By Lauren Bluth
The Student Honor Association does more than just place posters around campus; they sing too.
Keeping with their focus to promote the gospel principles embodied in the Honor Code, the Student Honor Association, or SHA, formed a choir to help share their message.
?Our main focus is relating to SHA and promoting the Honor Code,? said Sarah Hachtman, director of SHA?s choir. ?One way that we?ve found that makes this really effective is through beautiful music.?
This is Hachtman?s first year directing the choir, though she has been a member of SHA for two years and an assistant director during that time. The choir, however, has been a part of SHA for as long as she remembers.
Practices are twice a week on Mondays at 3 p.m. and Thursdays at 11 a.m. Hachtman said she hopes this schedule will be appealing to volunteers who are interested in SHA and who don?t have a lot of time.
?If people miss a practice here or there, they won?t get kicked out,? Hachtman said. ?For people who don?t have a lot of time but still want to be a member of the choir and SHA, it?s really good for them.?
The choir consists of members of SHA as well as volunteers who just want to participate in the choir. SHA leaders hosted a booth outside of the Twilight Zone last week to recruit at least 30 members for the choir.
?We have a really fun, diverse group,? Hachtman said. ?It?s like joining the SHA family when you join the choir.?
For Elise Gubler, a member of SHA, the choir is a time to unwind from the regular duties of the SHA office and a time for her to spend with friends.
?Choir for me is a fun way to meet new people,? Gubler said.
And it doesn?t matter if volunteers sing well or not, said Kristy Kadish, another member of SHA.
?It?s not a matter of if you?re really good or not,? Kadish said. ?We?re looking for people who enjoy it. We have so many different people, cultures and backgrounds, and we come together and join our voices in song.?
The choir stays busy by performing for firesides, student groups and ward standards nights. At these performances the SHA choir sings traditional choral music and inspirational EFY-style music, all in an effort to promote a higher standard of living in accordance with the Honor Code.
The choir also finds time to use its talents and message to serve others. Occasionally, the choir will sing at a retirement home as a service project.
Besides serving others through music and a message promoting righteous living, the SHA choir also benefits the lives of its members. Hachtman said singing in and now directing the choir has greatly contributed to her life.
?For me personally, while being in SHA I?ve gotten a greater understanding of the Honor Code and its benefits for anybody who keeps it,? she said. ?It brings me a lot of joy to be able to share that message.?
