Living a life they should love

For several weeks in January, the morning announcements urged students who could sing, dance, or play an instrument to try out for Lawrence’s annual “Love Your Life” concert.

The Love Your Life concert is Lawrence’s answer to the typical high school talent show. It focuses less on pitting students against each other and more on showcasing the various talents of the student body. The event is scheduled for Feb. 11 from 7 to 9 p.m. and tickets are $5. It is being planned by the freshmen and sophomore classes.

Karin Kind, the advisor for the freshmen and sophomore classes, wants people to know that the event’s name is significant. The full name of the concert is “Love the life you live. Live the life you love,” a quote from the late singer/songwriter Bob Marley.

“We came up with the title, because as a group of teens, they felt that there is so much pressure to get good grades, look a certain way, be good in sports, to volunteer in the right clubs, to have girlfriend/boyfriend, and so on and so on,” Kind said

“This pressure can cause us to lose focus of what’s really important. We realized that we all need to love our lives, not just plod through our lives.  We need to all start finding out what makes us happy, and then include those things in our lives.  We need to start realizing who makes us happy and then include those people and not be so concerned with those unimportant or negative people who wear us down,” she added.

The concert encourages students to share the talents that make them “love their life” by giving them a sense of pride and purpose. Many students said they auditioned for similar reasons.

Senior Ashley Jackson explained why she and friend Lydia Arroyo auditioned. “We auditioned because it’s our last year. We auditioned last year and we want to show the development of our musical talent. I think it’s cool that everyone is going to be able to showcase their talent, not just the few people that we all know are talented.”

Senior Eli Trought said, “I simply auditioned because I love to sing. I’ve been singing since fourth grade and I’ve always loved it.”

The concert does not just provide entertainment. It also gives back to the Lawrence community. Last year’s concert donated half of the $1,000 proceeds to the family of Gio Cipriano, a Lawrence student who died in 2013 due to a severe peanut allergy.

This year, the concert will donate to Lawrence’s own senior class. “Every year, there are members of the senior class who long to be part of the festivities, but are unable to participate due to financial constraints. The money will go to the fund that helps our seniors who need a little extra love to get there,” Kind said.
Good luck to the freshmen and sophomore classes, and to everyone performing!