The impact of Marching Band by Jessica

The impact of Marching Band by Jessica - December 2013 Scholarship Essay

I participated in marching band for all four years of high school. For those who do not fully understand what marching band is, it is a time intensive sport. Yes, a sport; try jazz running with a Tuba. Luckily I only played Trumpet, but still my arms would ache after holding it up, my lips would feel dead, just useless flaps of skin, and I would just feel drained all over after drilling basics and roll-stepping for hours on end. Playing an instrument, roll stepping to keep tone, hitting your dot, and keeping the formation at the same time, is a lot of hard work. Marching band has impacted my life in so many ways.

Marching band really becomes your life. You get up at five in the morning so you can be ready and on the field at six o’clock ready to practice. Whether it rained, snowed, or was blazing hot; we marched until school started, but we had band for first period anyways so we stayed out on the field. I remember wearing ski bibs, boots, a thick coat, and gloves, marching in the early morning with six inches of snow and more coming. We would keep our mouthpieces warm inside our pockets and occasionally warm our hands on the warm skin inside our coats, so our fingers would still function enough to press the keys on our instruments. Marching band was hard, and if all it included was just marching, no one would ever join, we stayed for the people and the good times.

Special bonds are formed under the wan moonlight at six in the morning, empathizing with each other’s complaints and glaring covertly at the band director for telling the famous lie “One more time.” We even had “penguin huddles” where we would all huddle together when it was freezing outside and take turns being in the middle. To tell the truth most mornings were miserable but band trips were always a blast.

Band competitions where the best, the first month after school started, there seemed to be one every week. Sometimes the competitions were during school, which made for a fun day away from classes where we would spend time crammed onto a bus playing games and eating food. The actual competition was always nerve-wracking, but as soon as it was over we all breathed a sigh of relief, unless you REALLY messed up. Band trips were always the greatest, where the funniest things happened, and you got to spend at least five hours hanging out with friends.

All my friends were pretty much in band. If I had stopped taking band, I do not know where I would have hung out before school, or after school, or when I would even see my friends. My section also became my pals. I loved my underclassmen as they were so fun, and I must say we were an awesome trumpet section. I have learned so much from being around band people/ my band family. After spending hours on end with the same people, the band becomes your family, quite literally some times because you may see the people in band more than your real family.

As you can see, band was important to me. Band was full of friends, and fun people. I loved playing my trumpet with everyone else and getting the chills when the music meshed together to create something marvelous. Because of the people I met, the experiences I had, the confidence I gained, and the laughs I had, I am the person I am today. I still have a great love for music and keep those great friends and I have learned much about music and the terminologies used by band geeks. I learned some stuff maybe I would have been better without; but for the most part band was very rewarding although being quite a challenge at times, and I am so glad I stuck through with it to the very end. Band has impacted my life as much as a meteor would to Earth; it becomes a big part of your life, in fact it becomes your life.