Personal Narrative: Marching Band

Summer before junior year of high school, I was looking at a lot of standardized tests, essays, a heavier school workload, college applications, and getting a driver's license; my most immediate concern, however, was the soon to begin marching band season. Spring semester of sophomore year I had decided to audition for a leadership position in the band, and I suppose I was the best candidate because I managed to snag Section Leader for my instrument, clarinet. As the final days of July passed by, I anticipated the start of a season where I would be mentoring and teaching my fellow clarinet players the complex art of marching band. A few days before leadership camp I received a letter in the mail from the Head Band Director, Mr. Larry Brown, and immediately I knew things were not going to be what I expected.

When I was in marching band finding my identity was one of the hardest things that I had to do. It took me to my senior year to fully understand what it meant to fully identify myself as a member of the Titan Regiment. What made me understand that I was a member because of recognition that I received in my last two years? Having the honor to lead my saxophone section in marching band and to be an inspirational figure to them recognized me. When this happened, it confirmed to me that I was really a member of the Titan regiment. This community defined me because it's built on top of my leadership skills that I currently had and it also help me to make more mature decisions as I got older. This experience did that by challenging me

1. Thirty pounds of metal resting on my left shoulder, I marched for hours in the blistering hot sun. The sousaphone was my greatest enemy. In 6th grade I was chosen to play tuba for our middle school band, I didn't like it at first, but it grew on me. Two years later, I had gotten pretty good. I made all state band, won some awards, and was 1st chair. I had no intention in joining the marching band my freshman year.

We were this close to being stripped of our "Undefeated" title. The band sat there in the bleachers, stunned as the announcer pulled up the scores and was ready to reveal first place. Blood rushed through my veins and the butterflies in my stomach were more active as ever. After all of our hard work, it would have been a shame if we did not conclude the season with a bang. The announcer raised her microphone and everything seemed to come to a halt.

I thought I was just signing up for a marching band, not a life-changing experience. It was about a week before my first year of high school started. My mom was reading the newspaper after breakfast when she showed me an ad calling for 12 to 18 year olds to join a marching band. I loved to play the glockenspiel, so I immediately jumped to join the band. I called the number and got the date, time, place, and a brief synopsis. A week after school started, we drove to Pickering High to sign up. Turns out, the band was part of the Ontario Regiment 2525 Royal Canadian Army Cadet Corps.

I have been in band for six years. I have been in the Northglenn High school Performance Ensemble for three years. I first picked up a flute when I was just an anxiety-ridden 12-year-old who became flustered talking to anyone who I hadn’t known for over a year. I preferred to stay in very tight knit groups where everyone had been friends for five plus years. I made the decision to stay in band when I realized I had made new friends without any effort (an occurrence I had never experienced), and on top of that, I was having a great time. At this stage in my life, my family was experiencing a lot of issues. I practically lived in the hospital waiting room my entire sixth grade year; that newfound friendship meant all that more to me. I officially decided to remain in band and join marching band when I was 14 with much encouragement from my band teacher and the promise of being able to spend more time with my newfound best friend. The summer before freshman year was spent marching on a field in grueling heat with kids who all already knew each other; the prospects of new friendship didn’t look too great… My anxiety had yet to subside but, I was having the time of my life. As the years have gone by, I’ve evolved and grown with those kids who I once was terrified to talk to. They are very much

It was October first when I woke up in my nice and cozy bed. Awakened by my light in my room and my mom yelling: “Rachel get up! You have to get ready for band.” I slowly opened my eyes and got up to go eat my usual breakfast, a Pop Tart. After I threw everything down, I got into my car and headed to the school. Once I got there I could see the two yellow buses that were going to take us to our destination. Everybody was all still tired and looked like they just got out of bed, with their hair in buns and in the clothes they slept inform the night before. When everyone eventually got on the buses we headed off to Sioux Falls. The whole ride there I wasn’t very nervous because I’ve performed this marching show so much but the tables will soon

Never in a day would I have dreamed of joining the marching band. As an eighth grader, the idea of joining the marching band sounded horrendous. I never imagined myself as that “nerd”. Now, today as a senior in high school, I am so glad that I made the spontaneous decision to join as marching band was a significant chapter of my life.

The marching band has also felt like a home away from home. If I wasn’t at home with my parents, I was on the band field. While being in the marching band at my high school, my long-term goal was to become their drum major for my last two years. I wanted to be the drum major that would cause the band members to put every ounce of passion into performing the show. Once I decided this during my freshman year, I put my heart and soul into my band. I stepped up to any work my band director needed help with. Whether it was fundraising or running OMEA (Ohio Music Education Association) events or lining the band field, I was there to show my band director I was ready to be a leader. My setback came when I didn't achieve section leader for the flutes

When I first joined the marching band in high school, I was very insecure and unsure of what to expect because it was very unfamiliar to me. Near the beginning of the season, our director and staff began to teach us how to march and play simultaneously. Many people were doing fine but some were struggling and I was one of those kids in that predicament.

Everyone knows who the band kids are. They see the band members marching under the Friday night lights and listen to their non-stop chatter about band. It’s easy to pick them from a crowd. I, despite my chagrin to admit it, am one of those kids.

Over the last six years I've heard marching commands over a thousand times. They are easy to execute when called separately, but slightly harder when called continuously. The march off has been a tradition in the band for the last forty years. Always on the parking lot at exactly 11:45 just fifteen minutes before lunch. When asked what a march off is, the best way I can describe it is as a giant game of Simon Says but with marching commands.

When I was in the eleventh grade, we moved to Idaho. When we arrived, I went to register for school. It didn’t take me very long to discovered that they didn’t have a marching band. I was very upset. The thing I loved more than anything, at the time, was marching. Now, that was gone. That’s when I met Ms. Taylor. She, like myself, was new to the school. We learned together how the group worked, and we both expressed our love for marching band. By the end of the year, we had even made plans to create one. But, as the end of the the school year slowly approached, she informed me, and the rest of the band, that she was leaving us. I was so upset. Not only was I upset that she was leaving, I was also upset that we wouldn’t be able to start a marching band. Before she left, she took me aside, and told me that I could do anything I wanted to. She said that if I wanted a marching band, all I had to do was make a plan, and accomplish it, so I did. I took the opportunity of doing anything with my senior project, and I started a marching band. That accomplishment solidified my desire to become a music

​In the fifth grade, I was introduced to my district's band program. The moment I was shown the instruments and allowed to take one home has changed me over the years. I along with the other students, my peers and friends, experienced the trouble of learning a brand new thing, an instrument. I was given the task of just playing one note and holding it for a certain duration. For the next few days the tasks assigned to me increased in difficulty, as well as how I should structure my schedule around practicing my instrument and school work. Then, from fifth to sixth grade my middle school experience separated the wheat from the chaff. This small transition of just one year showed a willingness or commitment to what I and my peers, my friends

The summer was approaching its end and it was time to go back school shopping. I was excited to go back to school to see my friends and get back to Marching Band. So on the last week of summer I went shopping on tax-free weekend with my Dad. First we went shopping for school supplies at Walmart. I got all of the necessities like pencils, paper, and binders. Then we went to the mall to look at some clothes. We were going to go to Lenox but it was getting late so we went to Stonecrest. When we got there I went straight to Foot Locker to see if they had the shoes that I had been wanting. As I approached the shoes, my jaws dropped because I could not believe that they were on sale! I thought that the shoes would be more money than that. I immediately