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How being in a marching band is beneficial
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My high school marching band has impacted my life in multiple ways, one is by providing me with multiple opportunities to be a leader. Going into to senior year, I continued to have major roles in the band. Other than helping my bandmates improve their skills, I also had to make major decisions regarding the well-being of the people around me. Every year, the Anaheim Union High School District holds an event called “Band Spectacular,” which is a showcase displaying all of the high school marching bands in the district. At this event, all eight high schools put together a mass band which consists of the top students from each school. However, these students are chosen, which means they do not have to go through an audition process. About two
Sweat dripping down my face and butterflies fluttering around my stomach as if it was the Garden of Eden, I took in a deep breathe and asked myself: "Why am I so nervous? After all, it is just the most exciting day of my life." When the judges announced for the Parsippany Hills High School Marching Band to commence its show, my mind blanked out and I was on the verge of losing sanity. Giant's Stadium engulfed me, and as I pointed my instrument up to the judges' stand, I gathered my thoughts and placed my mouth into the ice-cold mouthpiece of the contrabass. "Ready or not," I beamed, "here comes the best show you will ever behold." There is no word to describe the feeling I obtain through music. However, there is no word to describe the pain I suffer through in order to be the best in the band either. When I switched my instrument to tuba from flute in seventh grade, little did I know the difference it would make in the four years of high school I was soon to experience. I joined marching band in ninth grade as my ongoing love for music waxed. When my instructor placed the 30 lb. sousaphone on my shoulder on the first day, I lost my balance and would have fallen had my friends not made the effort to catch me. During practices, I always attempted to ease the discomfort as the sousaphone cut through my collar bone, but eventually my shoulder started to agonize and bleed under the pressure. My endurance and my effort to play the best show without complaining about the weight paid off when I received the award for "Rookie of the Year." For the next three seasons of band practice, the ache and toil continued. Whenever the band had practice, followed by a football game and then a competition, my brain would blur from fatigue and my body would scream in agony. Nevertheless, I pointed my toes high in the air as I marched on, passionate about the activity. As a result, my band instructor saw my drive toward music and I was named Quartermaster for my junior year, being trusted with organizing, distributing, and collecting uniforms for all seventy-five members of the band. The responsibility was tremendous. It took a bulk of my time, but the sentiment of knowing that I was an important part of band made it all worthwhile.
Band is family. When your student walks onto campus, he or she is instantly adopted into the strongest society on campus. They will be spending their school days among the top achievers on campus, with fellow students who look out for one another and steer each other away from trouble instead of towards it. Teachers, staff, parents, and volunteers watch over all the kids as if they were their own.
My older sister loved the marching band, so I always got dragged to their performances. I could not tell what was so appealing about it all; it consisted of walking on a field while playing instruments and flags being swung in the air. Participating in a marching band was never what I intended nor wanted to do. The idea bored me, but my mom insisted.
Payne, B. (1997). A review of research on band competition. Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music Education, 33(1), 1-21.
One of the biggest decisions of my high school career came my sophomore year when I decided to try out for the role of drum major in my high school band. This decision was very tough to make due to the fact that I was a sophomore, and although I already had three years of experience under my belt as a band member at Northview High School, I knew that it would be very tough to earn the respect of my peers if I succeeded in becoming drum major. Out of the three years I had spent in the band, the biggest influence on my decision to try out came from my very first marching season, between August and December of 2012. From that year forward, after seeing many areas that the band could improve, watching how underclassmen and middle school band members
I want to be sure that every single individual in The Force knows that they are making a contribution to the program and extending its legacy. Of course, a shiny trophy or a first place title is always nice, but a good show run-through triumphs over the “need” to win. I want to lead the band in run-throughs that make us feel as if placings don’t matter because we’ll know that we gave the best run we possibly could. If we are able to perform with this level of dedication, we’ll be winners no matter what placing or title we are given. This idea is one that has been prevalent throughout my career in band and one I hope to perpetuate within others by leading
I have been a member of marching band ever since I was in eighth grade. Marching, and music itself, was almost part of my DNA, with my entire family having been involved in musical organizations before me. My journey into the world of marching band began as a timid, reserved, and anxiety-filled girl who did not know anybody else involved in the organization. I was convinced that I was going to hate it, and came home from most of our summer rehearsals in tears. That was when older members started reaching out to me; they invited me to lunches and dinners during band camp, and sat with me during breaks so that I did not have to be alone. Eventually I made other friends my age, and I did not need to cling to them as much, but I still considered
I'm tough on myself, much like most people my age. So I feel like I haven't accomplished a lot, but I have. This essay prompt really made me think and a million achievements rushed into my head. My entire high school career has been focused around band. I've made many achievements throughout my high school band experience. I've gotten nothing but gold medals at solo and ensemble competitions and always had a perfect grade in the class. Most of all, I've been building my leadership position, and now I'm a field commander. It was a tough road, but I've made it very, very far. Band is an experience that has gifted me various skills and unforgettable memories.
Marching band is a very broad field to participate in. High school and college band both have specific criteria they have to meet during marching season. But what are the differences and likenesses between high school and college band? In high school band, there is one show to perform and there are many long, grueling hours spent perfecting and fine tuning it. The show is not only for halftime spectating at football games, but also band festival and regional contests. High school band has a more stern outlook because the entire season is spent working for placement, whether it be superior or not. Some bands have a more difficult time working considering obstacles such as size. Bands can range anywhere from only thirty to two hundred. With upperclassmen
It is about who I am off the podium. For the past five years (I marched up as an 8th grader), I have been proving something to these people, so that they trust me in this position. The character of drum major or leader is one I have been perfecting since I was a freshman. For a long time I was just an actor trying to be a character. Eventually, I had acted the part so much that I became it, and it was my role. I give respect to receive it. I build real relationships of with members to achieve trust, accountability, and effort. When people are torn up inside because of their home life, which is quite frequent in Lenoir City Tennessee, I am their shoulder to cry on, or a set of ears to vent to, or a buffer to dull their anger. When people are frustrated with me for some reason, I seek them out and learn what I can do different. When there are five flavors of gum stuck to the floor of the band room at 11:30 on a Friday night, I get on my knees with a plastic fork and start scraping. When the band director constantly yells at me for this that and the other, I take into account the criticisms and practice harder. The band and the director see this character I have transformed into, or maybe the one I have always been, and that is why I have the honor of standing on the podium and wearing the gloves. I have become the band’s teacher, nurse, cattle driver, answer dispenser, and friend. Somehow, those all add up to leader. I refuse to let them down, rather I lift them
I aspired to play a significant leadership role in all of the activities someday, and over the course of my high school career, I thankfully have. This year as a senior, the student body elected me as the president of Student Council; members of National Honor Society (NHS) did the same; future business leaders elected me as the vice president of Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA); and I received the votes to secure the office of secretary in the local Future Farmers of America (FFA) chapter. Coaches and teammates have named me as an important asset as well. Over the years, these opportunities have presented me with many chances to enjoy extracurricular involvement, meet new people, and mature into a
Many would also say, “The entire band [becomes] your family,” like my friend, more like sister Jocelyn. She also had no knowledge of being in a marching band, but had been playing her clarinet for a while so she kind of had a feel for what the band class was like. Yes, she talked to kids from band class and just took the class, because it was on her schedule in middle school, but when arriving at high school she was preparing for an awakening. Not a bad one, of course, but marching band was way different from your simple band class. Little did she know how close one can get to a band-mate, or too many band-mates. She saw herself going to upperclassmen everyday seeking help or helping them out; everyone at some point in time is able to be comfortable with one another throughout the entire band. “Even once our senior band members, graduate we [will always] have a connection, even if we are [far] apart from one another, they will always be there to help.” Knowing that our younger band members have this mindset of not forgetting about the graduated teammates touches my heart. Honestly never had I, myself, felt so supported or loved when I came to be a part of something so special and unique. Everyone in the organization is kind hearted, devoted, and supportive, you can never
Earlier on I had mentioned that I did not immediately consider myself for this position. One of the items that changed this is learning that the Drum Major is able to march with the band this coming year. I feel that by doing so, I would be viewed as a part of the band, and not just the kid on the podium. This is a very
The activity that I cherish the most and am the proudest of is playing drums for my school’s marching band. After the long, arduous nights of making sure our drill is perfect and playing the show repeatedly until it becomes second nature to us, marching band is the one activity that I am always striving to be better in. It taught me that if one wants to achieve greatness, one must be willing to put a serious amount of effort into everything one attempts. It instructed me that the road to success is suffused with deterrents and that failure is a state that we must become comfortable with. Essentially, with every mistake, comes a greater accomplishment. Marching band is my most purposeful commitment because it has made me into a leader who is
Working as a team was extremely important when trying to organise such an event and I feel that this has help to develop my skills when working with others, I have gained considerable confidence from taking part in these concerts. I also took part in my schools fair trade group where we were given the task to raise money in order to give a farmer in the third world country the chance to send their child to school. We achieved this by setting up stalls during parents evenings and the schools Christmas concert where we sold fair trade chocolate, rice and cooking recipes.In both primary and secondary I was chosen as a perfect. My role was to monitor one of the school stairwells to help prevent any problems from occurring. I was chosen as I was found to be responsible and mature enough to be trusted in this important role. I have also successfully completed Peer Support Training and because of this I was chosen to help the first year pupils settle into the school. During my career as a mental health nurse I would like to work with adolescents in both community and hospital settings as well as use my skills to take part in some humanitarian aid