Personal Narrative: My Marching Band Experience In High School

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.

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.

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.

You know when you have one of those friends you feel like you will have forever? Well, I have already found mine. This is the story. The first of seventh grade I stayed with the same small friend group and didn’t talk to people if it wasn’t required. Fast forward to eighth grade and I had made some band nerd friends because they had my sense of humor and the same love for band. Band was probably my favorite class and the class where I could be myself and not worry who was watching. I had made some friends with some fellow clarinet players and found out that they weren’t that bad once you got to know them. There was this one girl, her name was Nina Zeiler, she was the type of person that hanged out with the outcasts and was more of a rebel but was on the cheerleading team. I tried not to talk to her then which sounds ridiculous now that she is my best friend.

I stood on the podium, looking out at the field and took a deep breath. The fans in the stands behind me were a buzz in my ears as I made eye contact with every member of the band. I held my hands up and clapped three times and then SNAP! The instruments were up and I counted off, starting our first marching band show of the season.

Summer band wasn’t easy but it did teach us lessons such as discipline, teamwork, resilience, and time management. Being in band is commitment all year round and through that commitment you are taught skills other people aren’t exposed to. Learning how to adapt to others is a skill you need to survive in a band. There are 200+ people in a lot of high school marching bands, which means over 200 different characters you have to work with no matter any difference. With most of us coming from different backgrounds of course there are going to be differences. Two years prior to high school there was a school split between and I lived on the edge of the zoning border. I lost most of my friends the following year and thought I would be by myself all throughout high school. When I joined band I knew that wasn’t going to be the case. The band was essentially my family and my directors were my parents. My school had a large band population so I never had a class without at least two other band kids. Also, the band kids were considered to be the smarter kids and since we all took Per-AP/AP classes we all had classes together. You couldn’t separate us because it was just that strong of a bond. Band on top of that was all

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.

Marching band does not sound interesting to most people, at least to me it didn’t. For the longest time I wanted to quit band because I never really enjoyed it, I didn’t think I was good so it made me want to give up. But my mother never let me quit. I hated her for it but I realize now that she was doing something good for me. My mother made me play the flute. The instrument that isn’t like any other, some call it a “hybrid” between the woodwinds and brass. I never liked to practice the flute, but eventually I had to. These factors, hating being in band, my mother forcing me to stick with it, and playing the flute, changed my life.

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.

The activities that i'm involved in, inside of school are Marching Band. The Albert Lea High School Marching Band is during the summer and lasts about a week. It’s a blast and I meet new friends, also 8th Graders are allowed to do marching band and us upper kids help them with marching and memorizing the music. I also do regular Band class here at school. I play the Flute and are now learning how to play the Tuba, during the marching band season I do Drumline. I use to play softball and volleyball. Softball wasn’t the greatest, I mean getting hit in the face with softballs isn’t fun, other than that I had a great time and games and the girls on my team were the nicest. I played volleyball for 3 years. I had to skip a year of volleyball to plan my Quinceanera. This year, my sophomore year, I tried out for volleyball. Sadly I didn’t make it. Even though i was bummed out, I learned to cope with it.

Marching band isn't just a group of kids finally getting outside for once to run around a football field and blare random notes out of their instruments or spin flags. It's not just an activity or a way to pass the time. It’s not about getting all the medals and trophies or making it to State. It's more important than that. Marching band is a family that brings people together and helps people to grow.

Going into sixth grade band, I was unsure what instrument I wanted to play, or even if I would enjoy being in band at all. Initially, on the day we were allowed to try out instruments, the trumpet and alto saxophone stood out to me. I first tried to play the trumpet, and I was able to produce a fairly reasonable tone with it. On the other hand, I tried the saxophone, and it made what I described as a "farting noise" at the time. Needless to say, I decided that I wanted to play the trumpet, and I have never regretted that decision.

I had always been on top in the middle school band. As an eighth grader, I was one of the best players in the band, riding off of eight years of piano experience and three years of trumpet. However, when I entered high school band as a freshman, I was completely overwhelmed by the level of talent that surrounded me. I started doubting if I was even a skilled trumpet player at all. I was filled with these self-doubts but kept them to myself, thinking I would never have to confront the issue head on. To my dismay, I soon found out that the band director had suggested to my mother that I audition for mid-state band. My heart sank. I did not want to do a solo audition at this stage of my learning journey.

It was a sweltering day on August 17, 2017. The sun penetrated the sparse clouds, leaving limited space for shade and relaxation. Marching band camp was well underway, and an army of two hundred musicians invaded the football field for warm ups, despite the less than ideal summer heat. At the count of “5, 6, 7, 8”, all of our strides were perfectly synchronized; the unity in our actions much akin to a thousand drones controlled by a single remote.

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.