Student Standouts for January 21

Read the following writeup by Aanya Tiwari ’23 about how she and fellow Rams caroled to make a difference this past December.

Having grown up singing in multiple choirs in Sri Lanka, I grew particularly fond of caroling as it helped me to connect with the people of the community. Furthermore, it was always a nice way to spread the holiday spirit along with being able to experience the rewarding feeling of bringing smiles to many faces. In honor of valuing this tradition and getting over the gloominess brought by the pandemic, I organized some friends from the MICDS choir to go caroling with during winter break.

In order to work this out, I contacted Elizabeth Hogan, the executive director of the St. Louis Christmas Carols Association. The St. Louis Carols Association is a non-profit organization that facilitates the caroling and raising of funds for children’s agencies in the St. Louis area since 1911. What started as William H. Danforth and a group of friends caroling to bring joy to their fellow neighbors has grown into a well-supported non-profit and passionate community that has raised over $3 million up to date. The funds collected are donated across 35 children’s agencies in the region. Some of them include ALIVE, Central Institute for the Deaf, Every Child’s Hope (ECH), Lutheran Association of Special Education, Youth In Need Inc., and plenty more.

With that said, I assembled a small group of my fellow choir friends and we went along caroling across our own neighborhoods and those of close friends on December 27th, 2021. This warm and friendly bunch comprised of myself, Ashley Benoist ’23, Rebecca Sennaraj ’24, and Kate Williamson ’24. We caroled for over 6 hours and were immensely pleased to have been able to spread happiness to over 30 houses. Along the way, we came across several generous individuals and we were able to raise a little over $100 by the end of the night. From house to house, we kept it traditional as we carried our sheet music and small money tills. Amongst the array of carols we sang through the night, Winter Wonderland, Joy To The World, and Jingle Bells stood out as fan favorites!

Not only did we spread joy to others but also, we got to spend time together and engage in something we value immensely, singing. Moving forward, I keep a promise to continue this tradition of caroling with hopes that our little group expands.