The fall semester’s Lip Sync event at GCU is possibly the biggest student event of the entire year, with 7,000 students in attendance, hundreds performing and putting on the show, and months of preparation for one night of entertainment and dance. I was blessed to be a part of a lip sync team this year, but it was even more special because it was an all-girls team. We were a group of thirty girls and three coaches who wanted to put on a show and unite a community of women on campus who may never have known each other. Here are some things I learned from this experience about friendships and teamwork.
It’s important to celebrate each other first
Society today has created a culture of pitting women against each other, making life a competition of who is funnier or prettier. Our coaches made it abundantly clear on day one that there would be no such competition on this team. We still critiqued each other’s performances to perfect the dance, but every criticism had to be accompanied by a compliment. Our coaches did not tolerate any comment putting down another girl or another lip sync team, and I am grateful for that because it created a positive team culture. We focused on making our team a place to celebrate each other’s victories, regardless of potential jealousies or pettiness, which ultimately connected our team more. I personally loved how our team was built upon women supporting women.
It’s okay to speak up
I can’t pretend that lip sync was never difficult or that I didn’t dread going to some practices. Spending hours practicing was both a blessing and a curse at times, because thirty girls all have different beliefs and personalities that can clash. Managing lip sync taught me the importance of speaking up and being transparent with my teammates. Hiding my frustrations and acting cold towards others would do nothing productive to change parts of the team I disliked, so if I ever had questions or needed to talk with my teammates, I made sure to confront the issue head-on. I could even turn to my fellow team members for support in speaking up and asking questions.
Even though it was intimidating, I learned to speak my mind even if it contradicted others’ opinions, and that honesty from everyone grew our whole team closer.
Be there for the highs and lows
Building friendships with these girls meant being there for everything. I spent sometimes 15-20 hours a week with this group, and I would not have grown as close to them if I had not walked through life with them. When my teammates had gone on fun dates or were going home for a weekend, I would ask questions and engage with them. When girls had family members in surgery or had injuries, we would hold them through their tears and pray healing over them. Our team was built on a foundation of being with each other through everything.
It’s about the journey
The goal of the lip sync competition was to win, but in the very first meeting, our coaches told us that would not be our team’s purpose. They explained that if our team was built on a shaky foundation like winning a subjective event, our motivations could not align. So our entire team sat down and discussed why we were doing lip sync, and while the reasons varied for everyone from wanting to dance, have more girl community, or to celebrate their belief in Jesus, we realized we all had a shared desire to show GCU that a girl lip sync team can defy the odds and compete well. Our goal was to use our unique team to share joy with other GCU students and inspire women on campus to chase after what they want. Even though we did not win lip sync, I can confidently say our team feels like we achieved our goal, which is why we feel like winners anyway.
This year’s lip sync competition was a night I will never forget, and it is thanks to my incredible team of girls. I learned so much about teamwork and celebrating others on this team, and now I have thirty more close friends on campus. Even without a trophy, that sounds like a win to me!