Karaoke Club is exactly what its name suggests, a club where students can do karaoke. They meet in room 310 on Tuesdays during 10th period. The club started in October 2023 and met whenever they could, especially in the month of January, despite the many finals during that month. Just like any other club, Karaoke club creates a sense of unity for students all year round, but especially during finals season. The club allows stressed students to take a mental break from finals and have a time to relax and enjoy life.
“During the school year, especially finals week, you have a lot of students that are stressed and just really not happy,” said Victoria Thompson, the Karaoke Club President. “But I feel like while you’re in club, you can kind of let go of your struggles and just focus on singing different songs. And if you don’t want to sing, you can just sit and listen to your friends sing. So either way, you’re just involved in the music.”
As the club begins, students settle into the classroom and request numerous songs to sing as Thompson gets the club ready.
“I number the songs on the board and I put them into a randomizer so that we’re not doing songs in order,” said Thompson. “It will pick a random song and I’ll just be like ‘Ah this song was chosen,’ and then I’ll start playing it and everyone just sings.”
Just like any other club, Karaoke Club gives Francis Lewis High School students the opportunity to get to know the community.
“Beyond just being able to spend more time with the people I care about, my friends, I’ve also been able to make a few new ones,” said Michael An, a senior in the club.
Along with connecting the community, Karaoke Club is unique in the way that they go about doing karaoke. Instead of putting people on the spot, they try to make it the most comfortable they can and have multiple people sing at the same time if students want to.
“So, a lot of people think it’s just one person singing at a time,” said Thompson. “But for Karaoke Club, we have people pick songs, 10-20 songs on the board, and whoever wants to sing, they just sing for the song.”
When going about choosing songs, it’s completely up to the students who attend the club. Whichever songs they want to sing that day, they just shout it out and it’s added on the list.
“The songs you pick are mainly on how you’re feeling today,” explained Thompson. “So sometimes we’ll have depressed songs, sometimes we’ll have jumpy and vibey songs.”
This club provides a place for students to relax after the chaos of everyone’s busy day.
“Karaoke Club, unlike other clubs,” explained Michael Link, a freshman in Karaoke Club. ” We’re very open and all we just do is perform songs for each other and sing along to all different kinds of music. It’s really a fun little thing to do at the end of the day.”
An not only enjoys relaxing, but also notices the other aspects of Karaoke Club that many others don’t: the inclusivity of the club.
“Something I really enjoy about this club is the large span of people we have, both in terms of broad demographic diversity as well as personalities,” said An. “You have a large range of music enjoyers from pop to rap to even heavy metal, and it’s just nice getting to know people you wouldn’t really have run into otherwise.”
Link points out the uniqueness of the club, what makes it stand out compared to other clubs he’s participated in.
“I feel like a lot of clubs sit down and talk about certain topics and it feels like you’re kind of in just a regular class,” Link explained. “But, with the Karaoke Club, you’re up, you’re singing, you’re dancing, and you’re really enjoying yourself.”
Karaoke Club gives students a place to be themselves while being with others in an open and loving community that brings each other up.
“It’s like a party, but during school hours,” said Thompson. “Especially during finals week, cause finals week you need a break in between the finals, so this is a good chance to do that.”
In the midst of finals, the Karaoke Club is there to provide a sense of getaway and community that students need.
“If you’re feeling stressed, because finals are coming up or you came here and sat in your chair and zoned out, that would be fine cause we all have those days,” said An. “And if you want to, you can drown out the stress with some good ole music.”
