Alina Yu

Accent and senior Semanti Naiken sings at afternoon rehearsal. Naiken was sick at the last competition at Jefferson High School so she said she will focus on maintaining her health for the final competition in Nashville, Tenn.

On March 14, Accents will travel down to Nashville, Tenn. to perform in the last competition of this school year on March 15, the Heart of America Competition.

Accent and senior Semanti Naiken said, “I am really excited. This is our big trip for the year, and I have definitely been looking forward to it. We’ve been getting better since we have had three competitions already. We’ve just been improving after all of those, and I think we’ll do a great job.”

In order to prepare for this competition, Naiken said she will be watching videos of past performances and see where she individually can improve in the choreography. According to director of choirs Kathrine Kouns, the last competition at Jefferson High School was tough because many girls were sick and had sore throats so adjustments had to be made. Therefore, she said the girls will have to try to readjust and rehearse as a revived, full ensemble.

Naiken said, “I’ve been focusing a lot on staying healthy lately because we just had a really big issue at our last competition with a lot of people getting sick. I had to miss the last competition because I was sick, so that has been a major priority for me.”

According to Kouns, the next performance for the Accents after this competition will be Evening with the Accents and Ambassadors on March 22 and 23.

Naiken said, “Since this is our last competition, I just want to have fun and enjoy the opportunity to spend time with my Accent sisters and perform one last time in a competition setting.”