Personal Narrative: My Experience At The Drum Major Organization

When I was in sixth grade, I went to the middle school band meeting to pick out our instruments. I immediately was drawn towards the saxophone, probably because it was so weird looking, and my dad suggested that I played it. Later, I met my new band teacher, Mr.McArthur, and it turned out that he played the saxophone in high school and college. My parents bought me the instrument that night and I brought it home hastily and opened the case straight away. I was so excited to play it, but with my inexperience, I put the mouthpiece on upside down. I tried practicing it a couple times but the only sound that came out was discordant squeaks and tuneless noises. Finally, school started and on Thursdays I rushed to the band room. Eventually, I started

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.

In eighth grade I was first chair trumpet player for the J.A.M.S. band. I led the band in most songs and the band teacher made me feel like I was the best trumpet player ever. In eighth grade I was again accepted into a junior high honor band just as I had been in seventh grade. In eighth grade however I was not concerned about chair placements at the honor band as I had been in seventh grade. When I went to honor band in seventh grade I received a second chair placement. An eighth grader received first chair. Therefore, I thought I was almost guaranteed first chair as I was an eighth grader now so in my mind no one would beat me.

The week before all-state orchestra auditions meant everything needed to be perfect. I would meticulously practice my cello for extended periods of time, revisiting the same difficult passages until I was satisfied or my fingers became numb. There were few performance opportunities in South Dakota like all-state orchestra so I was determined to give a superb audition. Yet, regardless of the outcome I always felt proud, knowing I had done everything I could. Through these experiences I refined qualities such as excellence and diversity, which I anticipate will strengthen the student body, faculty, and mission at the Creighton University School of Medicine.

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.

To me JSU honor band is like no other thing I have ever seen. The most amazement I have ever had in a true feeling is, seeing that people from other bands from all over the state can come together to make something great. Six of my seven times going there was because of my brother. That was nothing fun as all I could do was sit in a nasty dorm room. Then finally, Saturday rolls around. Saturday you get to hear all the bands and all the work in just three days. My favorite time was me getting to go as a seventh grader.

While attending UMD, I have held four different jobs. My main job is a summer internship through Bolton & Menk, Inc. I worked there this past summer and was re-hired for this upcoming summer. My job duties included data entry, construction observation, field measurements, and daily field reports for many multi million dollar road construction projects around the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community and Mystic Lake Hotel. I observed the installation of storm sewer pipes and service entrances in addition to doing field calculations to correct pipe grades. I also observed parking lot and roadway preparation and asphalt laydown. Concrete work was checked and tested for compliance with state regulations in addition to checking string lines for

Whenever I moved to Boyle County and found that Boyle County High School was my desired school of choice, my parents found themselves continuously urging me to join their band program, specifically marching band. I had previously been in band at my former high school, located in an exceptionally small town, in which a quality music program was not necessarily valued, much less a competitive marching band.

These past four years have been a wonderful experience. I have learned, grown and matured into the woman I am today because of the lessons and talks I have had inside these four walls of Dillard University. The beginning of my senior year I was terrified, because I knew what I wanted to do but I did not want to fail at it. I was so afraid of failing, I did not allow myself to take risks and step out on faith. The fear of failing kept me from seeing the positive side of things and that crippled me. I had a conversation with Mr. Clark and he told me I could not fail if I didn’t try and that has stuck with me. He pushed and put a lot of pressure on me to apply to graduate school. To make him shut up and stop being on my case, I applied to six

For this assignment, I have decided to use the leadership trait, skills and style questionnaires. For this questionnaire, I asked 5 different people that know me in different contexts in life, such as personal, school, and work environments. For the majority, I rated myself higher on the traits than my fellow colleagues. On some of the traits however, I was rated higher than what I thought. Overall, I averaged a 4/5 which means that everyone agreed with the traits that were given. For the style questionnaire, I found out that I place more emphasis in building relationships rather than completing tasks. Finally, the skills questionnaire, my leadership skills are in the high range for technical skills, and my human and conceptual skills are in the moderate range.

During my time at A&M, I was involved with The Big Event as a committee member. The Big Event at A&M is the largest one day student run service project in the U.S. where over 20,000 students come together to serve residents in College Station. I worked with the Operations committee, where I helped organize our fundraising events and managed tool distribution on the day of the event. I also led a group of staff assistants who interacted with community members and checked job sites.

Like many freshmen, I arrived at high school totally lost. Middle school had been fun, for sure, but I had never found my niche during those three years. I did not play a sport, I was not part of a tight-knit clique, and, while I had found a high degree of success in school, I was never the academic star of my class. Certainly I had friends and I enjoyed school, but no pursuit of passion had found me yet. Band was my saving grace—I truly believe that, if I had not joined band in the fifth grade, it would have taken me far longer to find my way in life. Even now, I am still feeling the walls for a light that will show me my path, but music and academics have guided me this far.

There comes a time in everyone’s life when there is a fork in the road and we must

At six in the morning, I walked on the field with my flute and some patience. The first day of band camp had snuck up on us and soon enough freshman would be dropped off, excited to experience the marching band for the first time. Marching itself is a united art form where the fruits of our performances are derived from years of hard work; the incoming freshman had very little experience marching and I was well aware of that. Based on our last year's performances, the band directors signed up for three competitions against state-renowned 4-year schools. To compete, as a 9/10 high school, every single member needed to put in 120% effort. As the newly elected band-captain, I knew that my leadership would define how the band progresses, and it

During week one of the course, I completed a project that allowed me to identify my strongest and weakest leadership traits. The project required input from six individuals with whom I have a professional relationship. They rated me in different areas based on a scale, to determine the results. I also rated myself, and when I compiled the data I was able to identify the areas of leadership that I am strongest and weakest. The results are: