Marching Band Reflection

As a youth, I engaged in many forms of dance expression. I studied tap, jazz, and ballet for fifteen years. During these formative years, I choose to forgo many youth experiences so that I could participate in advance dance programs. The hard work paid off when I received a college scholarship to a performing arts

I have been dancing since the age of two. When asked about my career aspirations, there is no hesitation before saying “I want to be a dancer.” Being a dancer means putting all other distractions aside, and focusing on my craft. Currently, I dedicate over forty hours a week to dance, which is a schedule that requires sacrifice. When I am dancing, the rest of the world fades away, slipping out of my mind with relaxed importance. For that moment in time, I am completely free, wholly focused on my goals, letting me know dance is what I’m meant to do. With this realization comes a responsibility to myself and the work I have put into improving my craft thus far, and I know I must seek out the best opportunities for growth and continued learning.

This can be seen in the small town of Lapel, Indiana. When Nicole Flora, a member of the Lapel High School Marching Band and the Lapel Concert Band, was interviewed about her experiences with Lapel’s arts education program, she said that Lapel has a strong, long-standing arts program and that it unites their community (Flora). The community of Lapel takes much pride in their show choir and bands, resulting in much support for the musical groups. In one instance, Flora was in a marching band show performing at the Indiana State Fair Band Day. The crowd began cheering as soon as Lapel’s name was announced, even before the band took their place on the field. The cheering only got louder as the show went on, especially during the famous Lapel Funky Chicken dance step that is the band’s traditional exit (Flora). Not only does this unwavering encouragement instill a sense of pride in the students associated with such a unified and supported group, it strengthens the community as a whole.

“What are you even doing here? I have never seen such flawed technique in all my years as a choreographer.” The words echoed throughout the medical college auditorium. Impelled by the admonishment in front of my peers, I persevered in my endeavor to improve upon my dancing prowess and by the final year of medical school was leading the college dance team. The above mentioned undertaking further spawned an interest for the discipline of Latin Ballroom which lead to participation at the national level. The unwavering focus and persistence even in the face of unfavorable odds is more broadly reflective of my approach towards learning, both academic and extracurricular. This has been instrumental in achieving stellar academic outcomes including being ranked nationally in the top 0.0004 percent in the premedical test and the top 0.6 percent in the common aptitude test for management training.

Of all the things I’ve ever experienced, being in the Blanche Ely Marching Band was the most meaningful. Growing up I couldn’t fathom the value of life’s intangible things, but my perspicacity grew when I made the decision to stay in the band. The most important lessons I learned while being in the band would be: the importance of resilience,

As Newt Gingrich once said, “Perseverance is the hard work you do after you get tired of the hard work you already did.” This quote applies greatly to marching band. Many people like to discredit it as something that is simply “walking around and playing an instrument,” but it is much more than that. We didn’t win championships across the east coast twice by doing something just anyone can do. No one perseveres quite like the band.

When I first joined marching band after seventh grade, I missed the first summer practice to see a concert. At that time, I had no idea how much band would come to mean to me nor the unexpected amount of dedication needed. Before marching band, music was merely a casual thing, but it has transformed this old hobby into a greater priority. After just one season, this shift was noticeable. I certainly did not consider missing two days of a Disney World vacation to march at nationals when first reading the schedule. But this beloved sport worked its ways in a few short months. Through two marching seasons and a winter concert, band became one of the most prominent activities in my life.

When I entered High school it was a completely different experience. I used to play sports, why was marching band so demanding of me? An immediate change was present in the level of musicianship needed to be recognized above the others. My band director’s name was Ms. Mello but she was beyond mellow when she was judging our musical capabilities. She was a great friend but would tear kids apart when it came to musicality or standing out of form in marching band. Luckily for me, I was one of the few middle school musicians who practiced somewhat in middle school. I was recognized as a great musician for a freshman in high school. During the concert band season, there were two bands. The advanced group, the wind ensemble, and the beginner group, the concert band. I admit that there was another freshman trumpet player who made the Wind Ensemble when I did not even bother to audition. In the concert group, I would advance far enough that the director trusted me to be the principal trumpet player, above the older musicians in my section. When sophomore year came around, I earned first part for marching band and I made my Wind

Marie and I had just left her house and were walking to the tryouts. It was a really quick walk because she lives only 2 houses away from the studio. This was back in August 2017, a few days after dance camp ended for the summer. We hurried down the stairs to go inside and kept talking about how nervous and excited we were the whole way down. Once we got inside of Bleker’s, we started talking to the other girls. After just a few minutes we were all taken into the dance room and together we all learned a hip hop, jazz, and tap routine. We only had about 30 minutes to learn all of the routines so we were all feeling a little rushed. Before we knew it, the dance teachers put us into groups of 3-5 girls. These groups were the people we would perform our dance routines with. My group was Meghan S, Grace, and I.

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.

One of the most influential leadership roles that I have had the honor of holding is being the drum majorette for my high school and junior high marching band. Included in this role, I not only conducted the band, but I energetically gave constructive criticism, provided encouragement, and listened to my fellow band members’ opinions. Relating to John Quincy Adams’ quote, I implemented goals regarding to success for individual band members and the band as a whole, essentially supporting my members to “dream more” and to see the bigger picture. Junior high members who joined our band this marching season were granted the opportunity to attend a pre-session with our band director and I before the start of band camp. During this session, the band director and I taught them marching fundamentals and presented them with tips relating to memorizing music and how to sufficiently mark their maneuvers in their music. This session allowed the junior high members to catch up with the older members and ,substantially, “learn more”.

For five years, I have been a committed member of my high school’s marching band. For two of those five years, I have been given the opportunity to be the drum major where I conducted and commanded the band. Despite being the only sophomore competing against juniors for the title, the band director saw that I possessed the leadership qualifications needed to inspire the band to work as a single unit. Being drum major, as well as participating in marching band itself, has made me more communicative with other people. As a senior member, the younger students look to me and the other seniors for proper examples of experience. However, as the drum major, the younger members look to me for proper marching technique, advice, and an ear to listen.

I am on my school dance team, the Pacesetters. We are known nationwide for our consecutive national wins, and our slightly eccentric spring show. Having this reputation didn’t come without hard work and sacrifices. Pacesetters along with the other extra-curricular activities I have participated in, taught me principles that will help me achieve my long term goals.

In Marching band, we have one rule we two rules we can never break. We cannot stop the mode of production, and we must always be determined, forever improving our marching and our academic studies. These two rules were meant to represent something bigger then ourselves, to not only think of us as an individual, but to fully comprehend that we have to better ourselves not only for our own sakes, but for the sake of the Band as a whole. We were taught to implement these two rules not only in band, but in our daily lives. This meant to be at our peak performance, all the time. If we couldn’t live to these standards, we would be kicked out. All of this made the Marching band become part of our lifestyle, which reflected our performance as a band