Personal Narrative: My First Year At Cupertino High School

It is eighth hour on a Tuesday, this means I have band today. I walk into the band room, and I see a handful of other students have already arrived and are watching a video that is being played up on the starboard. They stand and watch as the Notre Dame marching band performs an intricate routine during a college football game. A few others hustle around to get their instruments and get to their seats before the three minute allowance is up. I hear random chit chat among friends and people beginning to tune their instruments as I gather my things and get into my seat.

My attitude toward this program has always been really positive. People know me as someone who is always smiling and just excited to be in the room making music. Band is the thing that makes me the most happy in life and it is extremely rewarding when I am able to make progress in anything that I am doing. There is a reason I have decided to go into music education in the future, it makes me feel great to see people progressing in our program and finding the way music works for them.

All of this contributed to me joining the marching band, beginning in eighth grade, which has taken over my life now, in the best way possible and given me a defined place. It’s nice to be a part of something like

I have been actively participating in the school band for five years. While most of my fellow classmates have dropped out of band, I have stuck with it because, I know band teaches me valuable

As with most kids, I was a bit nervous about my transition from middle school to high school. One advantage I had was that I participated in band in middle school and planned to be in the band in high school. The Round Rock High School band has a history of excellence and I was looking forward to being a part of that organization. This was an extraordinary time and I looked forward to being a part of the band with great anticipation. Being a part of an organization such as this makes the transition to high school seem much easier and it seemed I had a ready-made group of friends that I could rely on and ask questions of if necessary. After all, the Round Rock High School Band has over 300 members.

Despite this, marching band forced me to practice more and perfect my skills, and I am increasingly better now for it. I even made an alternate for all-county, something I thought only “good players” could do. Turns out, I am

A love of marching band acts as fuel for the commitment the members put into it. The activity has rapidly grown into an important event I look forward to in the fall and whenever there is an upcoming event. Likewise, the band room has created a home. Marching season brings out excitement and determination in me in wanting to put on the best show we can. Moreover, band has inspired me to become my better self through physical, mental, and emotional challenge. It has helped boost my confidence as well. Overall, I have definitely grown as a person because of marching band. I would love to have a role within the student leaders of a sport and art that has

“Mom, I don’t think I want to go anymore.” “Ella, I already paid. You’re gonna have to go” “I’m gonna die,” I thought in my head. I’m on my way to my first band camp. I joined my high school’s marching band a few months ago and have been working all summer on my marching and music.

Marching band has been the most time-consuming and enjoyable extracurricular I have participated in throughout some of middle school and all of high school. I marched alto saxophone when I was in the seventh, eighth, and ninth grades and I have been drum major (also known as field commander) since my sophomore year of high school. Having this job has been a huge responsibility, but it has also given me invaluable learning and leadership experience.

When I came to Highlands Ranch High School as a freshman, I didn’t know where I belonged. I had done soccer, but a concussion and several headaches later, decided it wasn’t for me. I had tried fully devoting myself to academics, but later realized that I can’t spend my life focusing on grades. I didn’t have anywhere to belong. Then, in the winter of my freshman year, I was persuaded into doing winter percussion. I had never played an instrument before and had absolutely no idea what was going on. I didn’t even really know what a quarter note was, no less how to count them. My freshman self was totally clueless and wanted to quit at first because I was so bad and had absolutely no idea what I was doing. But, I stuck with it to the end of the winter percussion season and when we took second place in the state suddenly all the long hours of rehearsal and constant changes were totally worth it.

Memories began to race through my mind as I started to look back at the time when I first joined the marching band. Coming into high school, I was not reluctant to try out new things, and marching band was an activity that would allow me to open myself up to others and develop a strong sense

Sometimes during band camp I felt like the work we put in wasn’t really worth it just for an eight minute show but I kept going. Band camp is very draining and I have always felt bad for the people that are in other sports like volleyball and football but they must enjoy it if they stay in it no matter how much work marching plus other activities is. The long day practices come to an end and school starts. We still get up early to practice in the cold, the heat, and the rain. Our first halftime show was in just a few weeks so our director, Mr. Nettastad, pushes us to work harder and harder. By this point not a lot of people are willing to seeing eye to eye with him but we keep

I started band in the 6th grade, I honestly thought that I wasn’t going to make it to my senior year, but here I am a senior in band. I am not forced to be in band I can get out at anytime anyday, but I choose not to. It is hard when you are marching and it feels like 100+ degrees. You feel like you want to pass out, but you just have to suck it up and be tough. Throughout the years I have been in band I have created friendships. I have my closest friends in band. I have created many memories in band that will last a lifetime, that I will share one day with my kids. I do not know what I would do without band. Getting in band has been the best decision I have ever made. Band has been the highlight of my high school years. One of the scariest moments I have experienced in band was when we messed up at U.I.L. contest, I was terrified I did not want us to make a 2, it all happened so fast. It was time to get our results, we made a 1, I was so happy. The judges said that if you were to close your eyes and listening to us, you would not know we messed up. We never stopped playing and we recovered so fast, we were so matured when this happened. Band takes up

Freshman year me really, really wanted to make District band. In middle of August, 2014, the etude for my audition almost four months away

And even though it’s just practice I’m pretending we at a competition. Like there’s a real audience in front of me and I have to entertain them through my singing, dancing, and facials. As we move through the show I get more excited as