In my six months here at Wilkes University, I have learned that I am capable of more than my anxiety tries to make me believe. In fact, I have surprised myself with how much I can accomplish when I put in effort. Even though I believe in myself and my skills today, I had a far lower self-confidence in high school. Three years ago, in my sophomore year of high school, I was a decent student and third-chair flutist who had just been asked to become drum major of the high school marching band. At that time, I was extremely anxious that I would never live to be the accomplished student my family expected, the talented musician my band director hoped for, and the perfect drum major I knew the band needed. Regrettably, I let those words of self-hate …show more content…
Nonetheless, I knew that I had to rise to the occasion. When I conducted the band at the first rehearsal, I noticed an innocent seventh-grade flute player, and realized that she, like the whole band, counted on me. The fate of this band season depends on my hard work and dedication. While my anxious thoughts persisted, I used the little mental strength I had to tell myself that I could not let the band down. During that whole marching band season, I pushed away my anxiety with an optimistic attitude. My confident motivation to have a successful band season allowed my true leadership style to flourish. Outside of those countless rehearsals, I practiced my musical skills, worked closely with the band staff, communicated with the student leadership, and ensured the new band members felt accepted to the band community. After the final championship performance, I looked out at the band from my podium and a sense of relief blew over me. I did it. We did it. I did what my anxiety told me I couldn’t do. The whole band exceeded my expectations. I felt incredibly proud of how far the band had come since that first …show more content…
I pushed away this anxiety with thoughts of positive self-worth. Thanks to my optimistic attitude, I once again exceeded my expectations. I studied for hours everyday, joined Kappa Kappa Psi (an honorary band fraternity), became a group leader for WEBS (We’re Empowered By Science), and stepped out of my comfort zone to get closer to my professors and fellow peers. Today, halfway through my second semester at Wilkes University, my dedication to my studies and activities allowed me to get recommendations from my professors for work study jobs, achieve a 3.84 GPA, accumulate 19 total community service hours, and earn a job as a WEBS summer camp counselor. These accomplishments have made my family, especially my nine Wilkes Alumni family members, extremely proud of me. While my family’s pride allows me to feel authentically loved and supported, I more importantly have made myself incredibly proud of my achievements. I, once again, have proved that my anxious thoughts are no match to my perseverance and devotion to
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.
The low reed section to me is not just my section, it is my family, and I would love to have the honor of calling myself mom. However, Lauren will always be the original mom and my biggest role model in band. She was the first one to give me hug whenever I was upset, she made sure I didn't get sunburned during band camp, and was overall the most loving, caring section leader I most likely will ever have. As section leader, I would like to devote all my time, love, and leadership to my section and show what an amazing marching experience truly is. Throughout this essay, I will evaluate what Lauren did well, what she could have done better, what I would do differently, and why I am the person for the job.
The football field may be considered a space for football, but it is also a performance area for the marching music performer. The performer who uses the same space as football players is a member of a drum corps. Marching musical performers experience the same nervous anxiety ticks as other athletes. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the effects of anxiety has on performers of drum corps.
As many people have told me before, it is a very different ballgame than middle school’s easy going years. There is much more work, the classes are harder, and the environment is completely different. Many people’s grades may slip and they may cower in fear at the barrage of assignments they receive class after class. Unlike other people, I am confident in my ability to excel at all classes and to sustain exemplary grades. Therefore, while many are trembling in fear at the prodigious assignments and work is bombarding them from all angles, I will be at ease, knowing that whatever obstacle is thrown my way, I will conquer it and be its own
In the book Letters to My Daughters, poet Maya Angelou wrote “I am a spring leaf trembling in anticipation of full growth” (163). Anticipation is a good description of how I feel about being a thirty-six year old college freshman. Anxiety, self-doubt, and dogged determination are on my list of emotions alongside anticipation, if I were being honest I would add. Providing my children with security, find true happiness in my career, and conquer my fear of failure are just a few things that hold my hand as I take this leap into higher education. Friends and family are surprised that I have gone back to school. In January of 2015 when I applied to South Plains College, I was working for AT&T making a good living. My mother especially couldn’t
George Helmholtz, as the head of the music department at Lincoln High School, is very determined with his regular students and the gifted musicians of the band. Each semester and year at school he dreams of “leading as fine a band as there was on the face of the earth. And each year it came true”. His certainty that it was true was because he believed there was no greater dream than his. His students were just as confident and in response, they played their hearts out for them. Even the students with “no talent played on guts alone” for Helmholtz.
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
Anxiety ran throughout my entire body the morning before my first class of college began. Not knowing what to expect of my professors, classmates, and campus scared me to death. I knew the comparison to senior year of high school and freshman year of college would be minute, but never did it occur to me how much more effort was need in college until that morning, of course. Effort wasn’t just needed inside of the classroom with homework and studying but also outside of it where we are encouraged to join clubs, get involved and find a job. Had I known the transformation would be so great, I’d have mentally prepared myself properly. It’s easy playing “grown-up” in high school when one doesn’t have to pay expensive tuitions, workout a
I knew before I auditioned for the role that it would be challenging. I knew that to be treated with the respect I wanted I would have to earn it and being a leader meant that someone at one point was always going to hate me or not like a decision I made. Yet, knowing all of this, it is still challenging. There are times where it seems like everyone hates me and days that I would rather go home and cry then have to deal with the constant criticism. One thing that I did not know before becoming drum major though was how much stronger it would make me and how those who speak out against me would be the people who encourage me to be better, even if that’s not their intention. Even though I have had many challenges in this role, it has made me so much stronger, more passionate, and a better person than I could have ever imagined.
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
While I'd love to write a four page essay on all of my positive attributes and why I can be a positive addition to band leadership; I'm going to narrow it down to three key points that clearly show my success in the band program. I’ve looked forward to demonstrating my will to become a part of the band leadership program since the end of freshman year; wanting to prove how much i've learned throughout my participation in the color guard. Starting with my dedication to the whole band program, will to improve my all around skills through the band, and ending with the fact that the guard has evolved tremendously throughout my highschool years in a positive way.
For as long as I can remember I have set high goals for myself regarding my future, my friendships, and my education. Entering college with these standards I knew that I wouldn’t settle for less than my best, and I would strive to amaze myself at my success. One thing I never fit into my planned path of achievement was any type of struggle, or obstacle that could alter the way I have thought for so long. The first month of college I fell upon an obstacle I never could have imagined. I suffered a knee injury and missed continuous classes following the accident as well as surgery that was necessary to my recovery. These things tested my strength as a person, but also as a student. It made everything a little more complicated, even the little things like getting out of bed in the morning. I pushed myself to see the end of the tunnel I felt seemed impossible to crawl out of. Many things helped me along the way, and just as I hadn’t imagined my accident, I couldn’t have imagined the support I found everywhere around me. I know that I can overcome obstacles in the future now because of my determination for success and the use of helpful resources all around me.
I remember those Friday nights in high school going to the football games. Listening to the fans roaring in the crowd and the cheerleaders chanting cheers on the sidelines for their team. While eating nachos from the concession stands, I enjoy the halftime show done by the dance team and marching band. The best part of it all is winning the game, celebrating with friends, and before the night ends listening to the sound of your school 's fight song in the background. I do not know about you, but these were my favorite events to attend during high school. I mostly enjoyed the sound of the music that was played by the marching band which I was a part of.
This season was only the second year that I had been in marching band, even though we did do parades in middle school. The year before, I was selected to be drum major of the upcoming marching season. I was excited to meet the challenge of getting back to the state championships. It was also nerve-racking because I felt if we didn't make it to state, it would be my fault. To be truthful, later on I experienced both sentiments from some of the most influential, heart-warming, absolutely awesome friends that I have ever had the pleasure of knowing. This would be the year that our band would adopt its slogan, its mission statement: Band #1.
When I was in high school I had a problem, which was being shy. Being shy made me seem as if I was anti-social, and caused me to have no friends, but my shyness was decreasing each year of high school because I talked more, and by the time I reached 12th grade I had many friends, who are very close to me till this day. While being in high school, I was always focused on my studies. People believed that I was a genius in high school, but I really wasn’t, I was just focus on the lessons, and understood what the teacher taught us. As I reached eleventh grade, I was chosen to be a part of the National Honor Society; I thought that I was never going to be part of the National Honors Society. I was at the hospital when my friends told me the good news—that I was selected to be part of the National Honors Society. As I reached 12th grade I learned that working while going to school is a bad idea if you can’t multitask right. When I was working I didn’t realized that I wasn’t multitasking right; I wasn’t putting enough effort into my studies, and having a job was distracting me, so I decide to quit my job, and continue my education by going to college. Growing up was scary, but I’m ready what the future is holding for