Personal Narrative: My Life As A Band Officer

Band camp began two weeks before the school year started. The director mailed all the band members the music they were required to learn. However, I ignored the mail and didn’t bother touching my trumpet or learning the music. I dreaded going to band camp the entire summer, but the day finally arrived when I was forced to go. My parents dropped me off at Niwot, I walked into the school, and lethargically headed straight to the band

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

Marching band was one of the most difficult/challenging activity systems that I have ever done in my life. But at the same time it was an inspirational and motivating aspect of my life. The very first thing it taught me was the definition of hard work. This was because I spent hundreds of hours to my dedication and devotion to band marching around the field in the hot sun every day. Even though there were times when I wanted to quit; one such instance was when we were out performed by another school, other times it was becuase of the teacher being a little too hard on me when I first started. Despite setbacks such as these, I had an ardent attraction to marching band, mainly because in middle school I was a part of concert band, which made me love music. The biggest, reason why I chose to do marching band, aside from my enjoyment of music, was because towards the end of my eighth grade year my middle school band director told us about a huge opportunity that we had coming up to become a part of the high school across the street marching band. They were called the Titan Regiment. She told us the difference between concert and

As a kid, what did you want to do when you grew older? When I was about 8 years old I wanted to be doctor. But as I grew older, I knew fulfilling that dream of mine would not come true. I knew it wouldn’t come true because over the past couple years, I had changed my mind from becoming a doctor to either studying to become a dental assistant or a mechanic. The reason I had changed my mind was because I had became more fascinated in how to improve my hygiene and my fascination with cars.

I had been in band for about two years and today was the day Mr. Heggins would put us to the test that determined if he would let us try out for honor band or not. I was excited, but also very fearful. What if I didn’t do well and had to hear him say “maybe next time” I was tired of hearing that. I had worked so hard and I just wanted a chance to audition. To be able to audition for honor band would be great, just a chance, and if I didn’t make it, there was always next year, I just wanted to try.

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.

Some people are better with words; others work through art and make an impact with their actions and creations. I may not be the best at expressing myself verbally, but I consider myself a great writer. Writing is one of the few ways I am able to reach inside my soul; I can ultimately capture my thoughts and emotions with a simple pencil and paper. Sometimes I get lucky and profound statements sneak past this step and out of my mouth, but that happens on rare occasion, so instead I write. The second way I am able to release my emotions is through my saxophone, my music, my soloing. Jazz. This brings us full circle. Jazz Band. What’s so special, what’s so great? To the untrained eye, nothing, it is just another band, but there is so much more

My sixth grade year was the most significant year of schooling for me. A few weeks into school, and not knowing anyone in my classes, I decided to talk to the school band director to find potential in me playing an instrument. At the time, I didn’t know anyone in band; I just wanted to become apart of it.

What do you want to be when you grow up? Common responses might include baseball player, firefighter, superhero, or princess. So naturally, adults tend to be a little surprised to hear my response clinical social worker. But the truth is, I personally had no desire to be a princess. I felt that God had placed a different calling on my life: social work and counseling.

Throughout my whole life, music has been apart of who I am as a person. From church Christmas plays to starting band in sixth grade, it’s one of the only things that I have known practically since birth. One of my favorite activities has always been band, and as a freshman in high school I joined the marching band. Little did I know the hard work it would take, the lessons I would learn, or how I would grow to be the leader and person I am today all from three months of dedicated time. Marching band was first presented to me in the eighth grade when some seniors from the high school came and told us about their experiences.

The summer of 2016 I traveled to Muncie, Indiana to attend the Drum Major Institution (DMI). One of the scheduled workshops was Leadership Three, instructed by a counselor, Taylor Watts. Leadership Threes’ lesson was revolved around time management. However, this workshop was not about solving procrastination, it was pertaining to how you affect others with your time. We participated in an activity where the objective was to balance a binder on your head and cross the finish line. If the binder fell you had to start over. The majority of other students and I quickly passed the finish line and then waited for the others. At that point I was not able to go back and help the others who were struggling, I then realized I put my objective over the team objective. The

At the time I had been in band for five years. All of my close friends were in band and we

When I first joined the band, I was a quiet, emotionless guy. I didn’t have any close friends in the band either, so honestly, I wasn’t having the best time. The people around me always seemed so happy to talk to others, and it confused me in a way. But then when band camp rolled around, people started to talk to me, so naturally, I began to respond to them, and eventually I began to start conversations for myself. I was a whole lot less awkward as days turned into months, my stuttering was reduced to almost none, I'm pretty loud, and I'm pretty friendly too.

When I started band, I was in the sixth grade, which was a year later than a lot of people in my band. Neither my parents or step-parents were in band, so they were hesitant to let me join. Once I was in Mr. Sacco’s music class, and got to experience what his personality was like (super fun, caring, and spunky), and told my parents. I joined band immediately, or as soon as I could, sixth grade. Even though I was a year behind, my band director as well as the others in my section helped me a lot. Since the beginning of my band experience, I have made many close friendships and had a ton of amazing experiences that may not have happened if it weren’t for band. Everyone always has the most fun on band related trips, from going to auditions, to going to Florida for a week. It has truly been an honor to be in the Ava Pride Band for the past seven years.

“What do you want to be when you grow up?” This question seems to get thrown around to kids a lot. I too have been asked this question many times, and to be honest, I have answered differently each time. That is until middle school when I started to find health sciences really interesting.