Confessions of an a cappella dropout: Swallowed by the whale.

BY GEORGE WEINBERG

ERIN I. LEWIS/YH

Getting former a cappella group members to talk about their experiences was like trying to infiltrate the mafia. Those who have quit a group seem bound to silence, fearful of gaining a reputation and incurring uncertain wrath. But the Herald managed to sit down with one brave junior ex-a cappella member who, under the cover of anonymity, was willing to tell his story.

YH: What initially drew you towards joining an a cappella group?

I remember back in my high school days, seeing a number of college a cappella groups perform. There would usually be one group every year that would steal the show, and it was always the Yale group.

YH: What do you remember about the rush process?

Rush is a little bit rude. It starts off very quickly. You don't really have a chance to settle in or feel around for other things you want to do—it's intimidating, but kind of in a good way. People who are interested get filtered in quickly and those who are not get filtered out. I rushed three groups actively.

YH: How many passively?

Three passively, in addition to one female group very actively. By the time you're done with the rush process, you feel like you've put too much time into it to turn back. You feel like—there's a whole Bible passage about this, about the difficulty of starting over—Jonah and the Whale!

YH: Why do you say that?

You should probably fact-check the name of the town—so God wanted to punish this town of sinners—bad dudes—and he wanted Jonah to let these people know that if they did not mend their ways, they would be destroyed.

YH: So what did Jonah do?

Jonah, in effect, told God to kick it to the curb.

YH: Then what happened?

Jonah took a ship, trying to hide from God, but God knew exactly where he was. He sent a storm to trouble the ship Jonah was in. I hope this is the right story. At this point, Jonah had realized his mistake, but did not want to admit it.

YH: So when does the whale come into all of this?

I was half-sure about joining a group because I wanted to do other things, but I had to choose a cappella before I could get into other things. They tell you that you can do other things, but they are lying. And it's because the time you actually spend in practice isn't actually that great. In order to make the experience worthwhile, the people in the group need to become the friends you spend the most time with. The whale comes in.

YH: What about the whole experience kept you interested?

Hook-ups.

YH: Procured by the group?

No it's because a cappella is a vast social network. It competes with publications, organizations, and the like.

YH: What other type of activities did the people in the group do?

I found a disproportionately large number of guys in my group to be very pre-I-Banker. Just not the type of people I would become close with otherwise. They like to have fun, make fun; they like art, but not too much.

YH: What was Tap Night like?

Tap Night kicked ass—you're abducted by a large group of people and taken somewhere to get very, very drunk. It was kind of like jumping off a large cliff into a body of water. At that point you think, "What the hell am I doing?"

YH: So why did you quit?

I wanted to do other things. I realized I wasn't going to take a cappella beyond college.

YH: How do you respond to the whole a cappella thing now that you have a bit of distance from it?

I think that if a cappella is what you want, it's the best that there is. But don't be afraid to drop out if it's not satisfying. The longer you spend with it, the harder it is to quit, and the more you feel like you're letting the group down. If you try to quit, their personalities become weapon-like—if you love the people and hate the activity, that's when quitting becomes a problem. I am glad I did it; if I hadn't done it, I would have always wondered what it would have been like in that community. But I am glad I quit.

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