Show choir is a performing ensemble of students who sing and dance, both of which I love. For the past six years, I’ve been working on my triple threat: singing, dancing, and acting. So when I saw the poster for “Pizazz” show choir auditions, I instantly knew I wanted to be part of the group. 

On the day of the audition, I was nervous but also excited. There were some people I had met before in the school’s spring musical. They reassured me that as long as I smiled, I would be fine. 

The vocal audition didn’t faze me because I’d had lessons for two years plus experience singing in my church choir and neighborhood theatre group. 

On the other hand, I was absolutely terrified during the dance portion. During the group audition, I completely forgot the ending. However, I took the advice I had been given by my friends and put on the brightest smile I could. It was this strategy, in addition to the vocal tryout, that got me into show choir. 

Joining show choir was one of the best things I did in my freshman year of high school. 

It helped shape me into more of a leader. In the second half of the year, I taught myself the music on my own time and then helped others during rehearsals. I also urged the importance of a mezzo-soprano section, which is often overlooked. 

I opened up and made many new friends, too. 

Everyone there feels like family and has their own pizazz that they bring to the group. 

I admit that I am an introvert and enjoy being by myself, in the quiet. But there’s something about being on a stage that helps me step up and let my voice be heard. 

Filled with extreme passion, 16-year-old Jocelina Depina speaks about her fondness for the color pink. 

“Pink represents the power within every woman,” says Depina, from New Mission High School. 

They say that pink attains an aura of intensive love from the color red set off by a sense of purity and openness from the color white. 

Although lots of men wear pink, for many the color symbolizes the potential in every woman and brings out her capacity to rise above. 

However, Gabriela Pires, 15, from New Mission, puts on a facial expression of great disgust as she says: 

“The color just doesn’t fit me as a person.” 

Pires feels as if her strong personality is not a match to that hue. To her, pink represents being girly and she sees it as a sign of weakness. 

As 17-year-old Tatiana Lopes walks down the street recently, she is captivated by a shimmering pink rose. 

“There’s just something about the color that fascinates me,” says Lopes, from New Mission. “It’s bright and has a certain sparkle.” 

Lopes is drawn to pink, she says, because it appeals to her eyes and she is able to connect with it -- as do many others. 

She says: “It contributes in building up a delightful sense of happiness.” 

She is 15 and introduced her love of the board game Monopoly this way: “My name is Angalique and I have a problem spending.” 

Angalique Lawrence, from South Boston, says that saving money is hard for her, so playing Monopoly is a great way to sharpen her financial skills. 

Who knew that the board games that teens started playing with their families in elementary school could relate to their current lives? Pondering which board game is your favorite could tell you something about your personality that you might not have considered. 

Sixteen-year-old Infiniti McCain, from West Roxbury Academy, is into the board game Sorry! 

She enjoys seeing people sent back while she goes forward. 

“Everything is a competition to me,” she says. 

Sixteen-year-old Kiara Batista, who attends the John D. O’Bryant School of Math & Science, says that she is partial to Monopoly. She says that it helps her learn more about buying property and investing. 

“This,” she says, “will help me with my future.” 

Sixteen-year-old Clarens Seignon, from Charlestown High School, has a tried-and-true way to drift off into dreams after a long day. 

“I listen to music while sleeping because it helps me relax,” says Seignon, noting that his snoozy genres range from reggae to classical. 

Teens are notorious for not getting enough sleep. Many turn to songs to help them slip into slumber. 

“I listen to gospel and soul music,” says Chandler Venable, 16, from Charlestown High. “It helps me ease off after a long day and makes me calm.” 

For 16-year-old Skyla Tracy, of Charlestown High, it’s sadder tunes -- like “Break of Dawn “ by Nelson Freitas -- that hold the key to flowing into zzzs. 

“It helps me fall asleep faster,” says Tracy, “and it also helps clear my mind of things, like school work.” 

Sixteen-year-old Gaelle Hercules, from TechBoston Academy, says that she knew what do when someone stole her friend’s phone during the school year and she had an idea who the culprit was. 

“I spoke up and helped my friend get her phone back,” she says. 

They say that there are leaders and there are followers. 

For teens, the truth often comes to light when trouble strikes: Do you intervene to help solves things or just stand on the sidelines? 

Jonathan Villace, 18, who goes to school in Dorchester, says he’s happy to pitch in. 

“It benefits me at the end,” he says. 

Aminata Sheriff, 17, from TechBoston Academy, says she stepped forward after learning that something bad had gone down even though there was later blowback directed her way. 

“I didn’t care about the consequences,” she says.