Marching Band Focuses by Allison

Marching Band Focuses by Allison - September 2015 Scholarship Essay

There are things that you can learn in the classroom, but for me, a majority of the life lessons and skills that I have learned have been out on the marching band field. Being a part of a 200 member marching band can be rigorous and time consuming, but one skill I never expected to get out of the activity is my ability to focus while multitasking.
During marching band, you are asked to march, while playing, and thinking about posture and the right techniques to use, and not to mention there are always people watching you. This is a huge pressure on anyone, and a key to getting through part of it is to focus on one thing. During rehearsals, it is to give all of your attention to the director or staff members giving you advice. While actually running one segment during rehearsal, you must choose to focus primarily on one individual change, but still maintain the other small factors the same.
Now you may be thinking, how does this apply to someone academically, but it does. Using the different kinds of focus, whether it be undivided attention when given instructions, or the ability to multi task and still focus on one major item, has taught me to prioritize and become a better student in class while taking notes, and following directions on assignments. The ability to focus is necessary for all students, and using it constantly during marching band has only sharpened the tool more and allowed me to understand more in class than I would have ever expected.