Personal Narrative: My Middle School Band Experience

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.

I later took up band in seventh grade to get a sense of what music is. Intentionally, I wanted to play the alto-sax and hopefully learn to make great music with it, but it would cost me, so I chose a clarinet. The clarinet had an interesting sound similar to a sax and it was nice to know that I sounded better than Squidward Tentacles. The flute was another instrument that caught my eye, it looked like a recorder but looks and sounds relatively refined. But, I could never get the embouchure right to get that sweet flute sound, instead it sounded like blowing air into a tube, looking back, I probably wasn’t ready to play it

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.

My strongest suits are represented in various activities in my life including marching band, my studies, and my part-time employment. These activities helped me to achieve the aspects of hard work, being conscientious, and demonstrating good work ethic. Even though I faced many hardships, hard work, dedication, and perseverance I was able to overcome them. Marching band has shaped my life in more aspects than one.

In seventh grade, Mr. Fulks asked me if I would like to play the tenor saxophone. I had no idea what it was be me being me told him sure. The first thought that went through my head when I first saw the bigger, less shiny, slightly less new, and weird saxophone was that I never told my parents. When I came home with it my parents flipped out on my. They came down on me like the Berlin Wall. But they understood that he needed a tenor saxophone player and he asked me to so I had to. On tenor I had to use more air, and carry a 100x bigger case. Through seventh grade I lugged around my tenor sax and still do. Besides getting a new saxophone, nothing big happened but eighth grade was filled with amazing

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.

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.

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.

From my experience, surviving middle school takes a mixture of luck, naive fearlessness, and an aggressive number of colorful plastic binders. I started my first day of fifth grade a jumbled mess of nerves, anxious about making friends and doing well in class, and inexplicably dressed head-to-toe in red, white, and blue swag my mom got when the Summer Olympics were in Atlanta. I mean, my backpack matched my shoelaces, which matched my pants and my shirt. I might have even had a hat. A hat. A precisely matching hat. That I wore all day. Needless to say, I was not a particularly cool child. I studied hard, had a core group of equally nerdy friends, and constantly worried about whether I was doing the right thing or, perhaps more accurately, becoming the right thing. Was I not studying hard enough to get into college? Or maybe studying too hard, missing out on my youth? Would I grow into my teeth one day? Would my skin eventually stop looking like greasy peanut brittle?

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.

Whether I play the jazz, classical, or the melodious ruckus of the marching band, the alto saxophone is how I reimbursed myself of my stress and anxiety with an indescribable feeling nobody but a musician can understand. This feeling is comprised of two parts: the playing and the team. While the playing produces a euphony that leaves you anticipating every breath you huff into your horn and dances out the bell, the team is my favorite part. Never have I anticipated or desired to be first chair, because I had always known that the second chair is the best. Despite the first chair getting all the glory, without the warm, complementary tones of the second part, the first, and even the band, could never achieve the beautiful potential it has. Together,

As a kid who wasn’t very athletic or artistic, my options for clubs and classes was kind of slim. So, naturally, I turned to music. I had joined my elementary school’s band in 6th grade, my only obstacle was to choose which instrument to play. I was caught between an alto saxophone and a flute, two completely different instruments, and I of course chose the one more difficult to carry. When I started my saxophone career it felt like more of a chore to practice than it was enjoyable. Soon enough, I started to practice on my own instead of having to be told to do so. I have now been playing the saxophone for 5 years, falling in love with it as the years went by. My favorite music to play on the saxophone is jazz, the energetic feel to it makes it interesting to play and listen to. This instrument has brought me a lot of good memories, I can’t wait to see what else it has in store for my future. I’m almost glad that I wasn’t athletic enough to make any of the teams, because if I would have I wouldn’t have picked up a saxophone.

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.

I'm finally graduating from Forest Hills High School. I’m in the music program and perform as an alto in a concert choir. My high school choir teachers have helped me become a better performer and more confident when performing in front of the audience throughout my high school years. Ever since I was in middle school, I've always been curious about experiencing new genres of music such as classical Pop, Rap and Jazz. In my family, we love spreading our culture's music while experiencing new music from other Hispanic cultures such as bachata salsa, cumbia, and cubano.

Most schools offer a variety of activities, classes, and clubs. I personally was never interested in school or anything to do with it. Then I came across band and was instantly hooked. Band has concerts, marching band, and you get to meet new people. Band is my favorite class and here are some reasons why.