Graduation Speech Essay

I was once the big fish in a small pond, but now I find myself as a worm on a hook in an ocean of big fish. Starting this journey, I can say that I was overcome with all types of emotions all at once: anxiety, fear, excitement, inadequateness, and at the end of it all I was finally calm. Knowing that I had just accomplished something that not even six months ago wasn’t even in my life plans. As a platoon, we performed feats that as individuals or a group you would never attempt let alone think about have accomplished. The slogans during that time of my career were “be all you can be in the Army” or “we do more before 9 am than most people do all day.” Within my first four years I got to travel the world and see places that most people would only dream about from Antarctica to Panama, and even to the pyramids in Egypt, I got to see it all. The military had such a powerful and profound hold on me I couldn’t think of anywhere else I would rather be. I was once told by my 1SG after a very long and trying day he said “Private Williams, where else can grown men and women have this much fun and still get paid. “I thought and pondered on what he had said, and even today 26 years later I still ask myself the same question, and it always goes back to the same answer, wearing the uniform serving my country side by side with my brothers and sisters in

WOW! So much has happened since June. The SV FFA and ag department had a rough start to our year losing three of our students who were on the FFA officer team to other schools. Even with this bump in the road, the four officers that remained visited Mt. Shasta City and had a blast bonding and learning more about each other at their officer retreat in August. Once school started we found three new officers and attended COLC (Chapter Officer Leadership Conference) where the entire team learned about their diverse leadership styles and were able to bond together as the official Surprise Valley FFA Chapter Officer Team for the 2017-2018 school year. If you see them around, congratulate President Cindy Hinze, V.P. Maddison Seely, Secretary Maya

We march on out to the stadium, the percussion player taps on his snare every so gently, with the flick of his rist he plays a beat and our feet roll in time against the pavement. The band looks uniform, like marching soldiers. People line up against the curb, moving their eyes with our steps, as they bend a curve on their face in joy.

The achievements of the Edgewood drum line has lead my transition from childhood to adulthood in many ways. My director has shown me how to be not only a good percussionist, but also a good leader. From these leadership qualities, I was able to lead our drum line to success in 2016. The the indoor drum line finals at the MEPA finals in 2016 where the Edgewood Drumline was awarded first place for our performance. This accomplishment was many years in development after getting third and second place for 3 years in a row. This achievement meant a lot to me and my peers at Edgewood, as it is one of the most major endeavors that Edgewood's music department has accomplished.

The Marching Band program of the Greece Central School District (GCSD) provides every child with the opportunity to perform and compete in a unique way. Through the acquisition of specific knowledge, skills and the development of appropriate disciplines, these experiences

The summer of 2013 was both a time of celebration, as I had just graduated middle school, and a time of insecurities, as I started my journey as a member of my high school’s marching band. In middle school, I was normally a shy, quiet person, so it comes as no surprise that I felt uncomfortable at my first marching band practice. In addition, very few of my band friends in middle school had continued into high school marching band, creating a feeling of isolation over me.

According to several band students, middle school and high school alike, the students were standing on the sidelines with their instruments for a total of 30 minutes. Consequently, the Drumline members

Imagine this: You’re playing football for your high school team, you have the ball and you’re running to score, except his football is around 90 pounds, and not only are you running to score the touchdown, you have to keep in step with 100 other players. This is what students do year round in marching band. We have to memorize how to play three songs and around 100 spots based on where we need to go on the field, all while keeping our backs, shoulders, and instruments straight, carrying an instrument that weighs 40 to 100 pounds, and marching in time with 100 other kids. All of these components are just the little parts that lead into something much bigger. We practice as much as other sports, every person counts as part of the band’s score, and what you do for marching band meets the requirements to be called a sport.

“Put on a show!” The director’s command echoed across the field as the drum corps began its routine in front of thousands of spectators. What attracts people to be involved in such a demanding and strenuous activity? The concept of drum corps has changed drastically over the last 200 years. Tracing its origins from before the American Revolution through the Civil War and into the modern era, today’s concept of drum corps has evolved from a military necessity to a major form of entertainment.

Our first step was to train the freshmen to march and to refresh everyone else on their fundamentals. This is achieved during band camp. Drumline camp starts one week before in

The program consists of 10, one hour sessions with 10 to 12 participants, with activities covering topics of self-responsibility, emotional expression, peer relationships, values, identity, harmony and teamwork. The structure of the program offers a cognitive behavioural approach where fun and experiential learning using hand drumming techniques are used to draw analogies between the participants’ connections of their experiences in the drum group, and their real world experiences. The program is non-competitive and is not focused on the problems or behaviour of the individuals, but aims to build on the strengths of the participants through teamwork.

I joined the Marine Corps looking for a challenge. I wanted to open doors for a new career and longed to have a positive impact on the world around me. Looking back five years later, I realize I found all that I originally sought, but I’ve also found something profoundly satisfying and meaningful that I never knew I was missing.

Sophomore year of marching came. This year was a surprise for everyone. With our show being named ‘Masterminder.’ The band members marching were under control by the color guard soloist; the puppeteer. This show was pretty exciting, too. The judges also thought that. We made it past regionals AND semi-state. What? Yeah, we all thought the same thing. We had made it. We had FINALLY made it after so many years of just trying to get past regionals for once. It was a bitter-sweet feeling waiting for placement awards at Lucas Oil Stadium. The instructors went around to each band student one by one. The congratulated us on an amazing season. I started tearing up, but that isn’t surprising. As we marched our way out of Lucas Oil Stadium that night, I knew that this was only the beginning of a new generation for the Marching Marksmen.

Breathtaking. It was the only word to describe the sights and sounds of the camp. Birds’ songs danced throughout the air, intermingling with the gentle whispers of the summer breeze. This euphony at Camp Serene was to be replaced by the cadence of drums. It was the beginning of Alan Keown’s Marching Percussion Camp, a foray into an unfamiliar facet of a very familiar subject. I had experience in drumming, having been involved in percussion since the fifth grade, but this was marching percussion. I had never marched before, nor had I played using the traditional technique they taught and utilized at the camp. I had no idea just how outclassed I would be.

“Alright kids, go back and run it one more time” drilled the proud marching band director. As the kids grunted and moaned, they returned to their spots, determined to make this next run of the show better than the last. Little did they know the director is just as determined as they are, thinking of ways the band as a whole can improve upon their last enactment of the show.