Everybody has their thing in high school. Some people are athletes, some people love scholar's bowl, some people like to build stuff, and some people like to lay on the couch all day and just skip school. Then, you have the band kids.
It wasn't until the spring before my freshman year that I took an interest in the band and decided that I wanted to be a part of the visual ensemble. Upon making the color guard at my school, I had no idea what I was in for. I had no idea that I was going to surrender all my free time, sanity, and (parents') money to an organization that I knew little to nothing about. I was nervous, and scared of being picked on. Little did I know, band would change my life.
There are many things that band taught me, and not only the band, but my wonderful band director.
1. That "Early is on time and on time is late." - Christopher Smith
A phrase that haunts the souls of all band kids, but contains more meaning than "Monty Python's Meaning of Life." This was the creed, the law, the golden rule. Once you took the motto to heart, you applied it to every aspect of your life. I would catch myself telling it to my mom when we were running late, or telling it to myself on the way to work every day after school. It became a part of me, but I promise I'll never be late to any practice ever again.
2. How to work as a team
It is hard to work with a group of 150 other people and not get a little stressed out, but in the good spirit of band, you find a way. There is no room for arguments or a fight. We are all in love with this one thing, and that is why we keep doing it. Then in the classroom, you find yourself trying to take over in group projects, or trying to make sure people get along because you know what it is like to be a part of a team. You grow to love your team, just like anyone playing any other sport would.
3. How to pray
Yes, I learned how to pray in bible school, but I mean really pray. Pray as a group. Pray for healing of another member, pray for a good performance before every game and competition, and for safety as you travel all across the country. A group of people that pray together understand that nobody gets left behind and that we really do all love each other.
4. How to win awards and not be cocky about it
As a band member, it is part of your job to bring home the superior ratings at competitions. What I loved about my band was that we were taught how to be "classy and never sassy" about our awards. You win some, and you lose some. You tried your hardest. Every band on that field prepared just like you did, and everyone deserves an award. So instead of boasting about it, band taught me how to accept the award with class and composure, and not jump up and down and scream in the other band's faces.
5. How to have fun
The best thing about November was the band trip. From New York to Chicago to Disney World to Universal, everyone had a blast (not to mention our amazing director and boosters setting everything up). Those trips brought us all closer and showed us all that it's okay to act like a little kid every now and again. Band kids know how to have fun. I can honestly say that band is the only reason why I am as outgoing as I am today, because of the limits it pushed me to.
6. How to sing/play my high school's Alma Mater
If you are a band kid, you know the alma mater. When you have pep rallies, everyone in the whole school is just pretending to know the words. Luckily, the band has everyone covered. You could sing it backwards, forwards, and probably in Spanish if you had to.
(LOL at my mom looking at me in this one)
7. How to coordinate outfits
The clothes you wear tie you together. It's like twinning, but with 150 other people. Before every away game, you have to sit there and listen to the band director, once again, go through every single part of the uniform, just to make sure nobody forgets (but, let's be honest, someone always forgets something). You may not look "styling," but you will always get style points for matching.
8. Discipline
Stand at attention, mark time, marching. It's all a system, and nobody can do it quite like the band can. You stand for long practices, practice in the rain and wind, memorize drill, memorize visuals, memorize music, and learn how to be in time with the drum major. They might as well call all band kids Superman/Superwoman, because they know how to do it all.
9. How to make lifelong friends
Band brought me my best friend in the whole wide world. There are some friends that fade, and some that stay, but they were in your life because band brought you together. If I had never been in band in high school, I would have never had the friends I do now. Keeping in touch after graduation is hard, but if they are true friends, they will always be there to stay.
I will forever miss band, and it will always hold a special place in my heart, along with the people I met along the way. High school band changed me for the better; and to band kids everywhere, I know you feel the same.
