NOVA Idol 2011, the singing contest held annually by Northern Virginia Community College, was marked by a concert of great singers performing for five judges, including Tony Perkins from Good Morning America, and a venue packed with family, friends and other guests of the performers. In fact, the Rachel M. Schlesinger Concert Hall & Arts Center on the college’s Alexandria campus was so full on March 25 that, according to Meredith Aquila, secretary of NOVA Idol Planning Committee, people were turned away at the door. The center’s marketing manager, Linda Vitello, said the auditorium’s capacity is 991.

It will be my joy this April and May to sing a piece of music with the NOVA Community Chorus that has been my very favorite since I was in sixth grade. I have been looking forward to singing Beethoven’s Ode to Joy since I found out last semester that we would be singing it this spring, but it has been a dream of mine to perform it in front of an audience since I first began singing along to it in my youth.

[032411_0414_AlexandriaC1.jpg] If you talk to most anyone around the Alexandria campus of Northern Virginia Community College, including students, faculty or staff, they would likely agree that the recycling program in place there isn’t working. As for why it isn’t working, there are many conflicting viewpoints and more than just a little confusion.

According to the head of the Green Committee for NOVA, Ray Bailey, for the last 18 months each campus of NOVA has had a recycling contract. The campuses in Fairfax County, including Annandale and Medical Education campuses, have a contract with the county to pick up recycling. Bailey stated, “All other campuses are covered by Con-Serv Industry (CSI).” Bailey also explained that all the contracts are for “single-stream” recycling, which means that paper, plastic bottles and glass can all go in the recycling bins.

On Friday, March 25 at 7 p.m., nine of NOVA’s top singing sensations will battle for the title of this year’s NOVA Idol. The college finalists are Erika Anderson, John Ashburn, Martina Green, Lyndsi Hicks, Kelley Kime, Elaine Lopez, Laura Manzer, Lauren McLeod and Edwin Thorpe. And from various high schools in the region, CJ Marble, Devyn Metz, Padideh Guodarzi Nejad and Joao Versos will be competing for a prize of $1,000.

Are you looking for something fun to do over spring break? Do you enjoy experiencing classical music in a live setting? Then come to the NOVA Community Chorus’ performance of Verdi’s Requiem, and experience the full range of emotion that a composer can put forth through the voices of a gifted chorus. If you’ve never heard Verdi’s Requiem, come prepared to be rocked by this masterpiece, as it can go from quite peaceful and subdued to at once intense and thrilling. According to the New York Times, George Bernard Shaw once said that Verdi’s Requiem would be more enduring than any of his own operas.

Did you know that 38 percent of all CO2 emissions on earth come from inefficient energy use in buildings? That is just one of several statistics that Alliance for Climate Education will introduce to Northern Virginia Community College students on Feb. 22 at 11 a.m., in the Schlesinger Center on Alexandria campus. In hosting ACE, NOVA will aid the organization in their mission to educate, inspire and activate the younger generation around the issue of climate change.

For those who are unaware of what NOVA Idol is all about, the answer is in the name. NOVA Idol is like the TV show “American Idol” in that the singers compete against each other for cash prizes and a bit of localized fame. The fame and fortune in winning either the first, second or the third-place spot in NOVA Idol are, of course, to a lesser degree than one would achieve in winning “American Idol,” but it’s still well worth the effort to win.

Throughout the first week of school the Annandale chapter of the NOVA Green Club made a showing of environmental awareness by conducting a Recycling Blitz in the campus cafeteria.

Unlike the Eco-Rage held last semester on the same campus, the Recycling Blitz was a less dazzling affair but no less effective in its ability to make the club visible, especially to the Annandale administration, which seems to have taken notice of the efforts of the club to make the school greener.

Each year for the past three years, NOVA has teamed up with Home Instead Senior Care to bring warmth and joy to financially challenged and lonely seniors in the Prince William County area. Students, faculty and staff participate by stopping by the Christmas tree at the Howsman Building or the wreath at Innovation Park at the Manassas campus, picking up an ornament with a preferred gift listed by a senior, purchase the gift, and then returning it to the Provost’s office of the campus.

As a writer, I enjoy many forms of written expression including poetry, essays and obviously journalism. They each bring me a level of satisfaction, a feeling of a job well done and sometimes the delight in creating something of which I am truly proud. However, one form of expression gives me such a feeling of excitement, pride and creative satisfaction that participating in it is a joy to rival all others, and that is singing with the NOVA Community Chorus.