Don't Be Ashamed to Join the Marching Band by Anabella

Don't Be Ashamed to Join the Marching Band by Anabella - December 2019 Scholarship Essay

I felt lost, as most teenagers do. During 2016-2017, my Freshman year, I moved from my hometown in NewYork to McLean Virginia and then back. Coming back to New York was much harder than I had anticipated. I was only gone for a year, and I anticipated everything to be the same as it was when I left. This expectation was shattered soon into my Sophomore year when I realized that all my friends had changed, moved on, and hardly cared about me. I wasn't included in any activities, I wasn't part of any "group", I even felt alone within my cheer and lacrosse teammates.
My chorus class was the only place I felt accepted and included. Sadly though, 42 minutes everyday wasn't enough to create any solid friendship that I was looking for. It wasn't until a trip to Hershey Park, a trip that all the music students were offered, where I met a Band student that had coincidentally been seated on the Chorus/Orchestra bus. Within a couple months he had convinced me to join the Marching Band. I was skeptical for a while for very superficial reasons. I joined at the end of my Sophomore year, and I had spent my first season hiding the fact that I was in the Marching Band for those same superficial reasons. I didn't even realize how this activity was everything I needed and more.
I joined the ColorGuard, and by the end of the season I had not only acquired skills in technique, teamwork, and time management (I devoted over 600 hours); but I had learned what it meant to have true dedication and I met some of the closest friends I have ever had. I spent the bus ride back from state championships with a heavy heart that this activity had ended. It was during that 5 hour ride that I realized just how much this team meant to me, and I was already preparing to dive head first into the next season. Come 7 months later, in May, I applied to be Captain of the ColorGuard. I felt honored to have gotten the position and I had so much pride in it. I spent the next 6 months devoting all my free time to ColorGuard, I did it happily, and I wasn't afraid to hide it. From leading practices, holding weekend practices, spontaneously helping the “newbies” anytime they needed whether it was during rehearsal or not, teaching and getting to come up with ideas for our show; I put everything I could into ColorGuard. The season flew by, and I found myself wishing time would slow down just so I could have the season for longer. I had the time of my life in this show, I met some of the best people, made friends I could call a family, and I pushed myself beyond my limits but the best part about it was that I loved doing it with all my being. I was exhausted, overworked, and stressed from having schoolwork, a job, and Marching Band, but every moment felt completely worth it. I wore my uniform like it was a Red Carpet dress, I strutted in my jazz shoes as if they were high heels. My equipment became my best friends, and my best friends became my family. The football fields were my stages to perform on, and championships was Broadway.
Did I expect this outcome? Not even slightly. But by the end of my marching season I had gained so much confidence, experience, knowledge, and so much more from Marching Band that I would have missed out on if I chose not to take that leap of faith. All of the stereotypes, all of the superficialities, none of it mattered anymore. I had grown, found my place and my people, and learned more about myself than I ever expected to. I wouldn't have wanted to focus my time and energy anywhere else. I had the time of my life, and to think I almost missed out on it.