The first thing that comes to the mind when people involved in Sing Song think about the event is stress.

More than 1,600 students across campus walk around like zombies for the week leading up to the big performances. They call in sick to work, hastily study for inconveniently scheduled exams, and clear the slate regarding anything else.

When it seems that nothing else can keep their internal clocks ticking, they find a way to burst forth with enthusiasm on a stage set in the same place they dozed off during Chapel just hours earlier.

But when the source of their energy that keeps their clock hands turning – or pointing, fanning, jerking and other moves done in unison – is the same source of their weariness, there’s only one explanation. Sing Song may seem like pure madness but it provides the most prized memories.

In the grand scheme of the production, one individual doesn’t make an enormous difference. The show will go on. But before the curtain lifts the Sing Song faces come on. Really, no one can even really see the individual faces of members in the large acts, but everyone has been drilled by their directors to wear their Sing Song face.

They’re drilled because as a whole, something as a little as smile makes a big difference. It makes the ACU difference.

Students kid about the cheesy taglines of the university, but if there were anything that seperates ACU from other universities, or even other Christian universities, it’s Sing Song.

It’s an opportunity for students to be a part of something bigger than themselves. It’s the chance to take part in the history of what will some day be their alma mater. To be involved in Sing Song is to continue a legacy that began 55 years ago.

Nearly 8,000 people will attend the three shows this weekend. More people come back for Sing Song than Homecoming so by putting on a show over and over again and spending hours of practice leading up to it, participants are the ones that really get to say “welcome back” to the alumni.

And Sing Song is the way that years down the road, we would like open arms extended to us. The massive production distinguishes the weak from the strong. It takes a strong person to stand next to someone wearing a costume for hours with their arms swinging in the air.

As we prepare for Sing Song we push our limits, and define new ones.