Throughout my four years of high school, I may have indulged in some shenanigans and tomfoolery. Doing random silly things is one of my favorite things to do and I must admit, it's my forte.
Speaking of forte, this article is going to be all about the many quirks and stupid things I developed during marching band and band class, and all the times I messed with my high school band director. Let's reminisce together.
The Coloring Corner- Coloring books are such a big hit right now, but I was coloring way before it blew up as a popular trend. Being a coloring hipster, and a lazy senior in high school, I often printed out coloring book pages and colored during all my classes. When coloring during band class, my fellow classmates would often ask to join in on the relaxing colorful fun and suddenly I would have an army of friends coloring throughout class. I told my friends to finish each piece by adding a random title.
So what did I do with all these completed works of art? After class I grabbed a trusty tape dispenser and started hanging up these pages in the corner of the band room by the entrance. The band and I continued coloring for many more days, and I kept hanging up each page in the corner. My band director wasn't too pleased with the Coloring Corner at first, but I feel like he started enjoying it by the second or third month. I kept a stash of coloring books and crayons in the band room.
When the two or three times arose where my band director forced my hand and made me take the art down, I stored them all for safe keeping, making sure to hang them back up. I even ventured out of the band room and starting hanging up my art in my other classes, but the Coloring Corner was just too beautiful to neglect.
When graduation was around the corner I took down the coloring corner for the last time and handed back all the many pieces to their individual owners. Some of the very best pieces currently adorn my bedroom wall, I have one piece of a rubber duck hanging up in my band director's office, and finally, my brother, who is in high school now, informed me that one day he walked into the band room and saw a piece of art hanging up on the wall.
The Locker Faces- I believe it was sophomore year when locker faces happened. I walked into the band room to see the trumpet section hovered around their lockers. My friend Krystoff had printed out some random famous faces, like Darth Vader and Obama, and attached the faces to their respective lockers. They asked if I wanted one. I said 'hell yeah'. Suddenly everyone wanted a face on their locker, so Krystoff and I started working on it. Instead of plain grated band lockers, they now looked like Beyonce, Micheal Jackson, Bill Cosby, and so many others. Almost all students had a face displayed on their locker, and it was glorious.
Good Morning- Being in both marching band and band class, I saw the same people a lot and often. I can't really explain how this was developed, but I would always greet everyone with the same expression, "Good morning". In the beginning I would say it with some sort of weird dopey accent but as time went on it was shortened to just me saying 'morning' in a normal voice. I would greet people like this no matter the time of day, and if someone got confused and tried correcting me, I, in response, would say, "It's morning somewhere."
Saying good morning quickly came to be a catch phrase of mine. Students and teachers alike would say good morning to me before I even had a chance to say it to them. At the end of one of my last articles for marching band, I ended my column poetically with, 'Good morning and Good night, -CJ von Essen.' I guess good morning got embedded within the marching band because I was informed, again by my brother, that people were still saying Good morning to others at 5 in the afternoon.
40th Birthday Surprise- My band director hit the big 4-0 during my time in high school. That's a big deal, being 40, so my friends and I decided to surprise him with a little something something. With some carefully timed questions beforehand, we found out his favorite candy, animal, and even his fondness for Transformers. Krystoff baked a pretty sweet cake, and I bought his gifts and party supplies; some hats, noise makers, the works.
We got him a dollar store kazoo and harmonica. I even bought a pinata and stuffed it with gummy bears and taped Optimus Prime on the sides. On his birthday, we turned off the lights in the room and lit the candles. After singing happy birthday, he was able to break the pinata with some drum sticks and we ate cake after class. I took the pinata's head and dangled it on top of the smart board, it stayed there for quite some time.
All Hail the Queen- Last but not least we have the queen. Freshman year, my friend Matt traveled to Europe and gave me some souvenirs; postcards of the Queen and princess Diana's faces. I gladly accepted them and left them both in my locker to be forgotten until one day of sophomore year. I cleaned my locker out before heading to jazz band and had the postcard with me. I decided to slap the Queen high on the wall of the band room and got to watch as slowly people began to notice it and became very confused.
After a couple days, some taller friends and I moved the Queen to a different location. Again, I watched as band class would go on and people all around me would start to notice that she moved. We got into the habit of moving her to different locations every week or so. We started hailing the Queen for some reason, giving her a little salute. This was the common qua for awhile, until my band director committed theft. She had fallen off her adhesive back one day and my band director picked her up and decided to keep her. Holding the Queen hostage, he tried to offer me a deal. I completely forget what the deal was but I know it was crap. This was war.
He locked the Queen inside one of his filing cabinets and continued to go with jazz band. I just sat there and patiently waited for my time to strike. I didn't make my move until jazz band ended. I nonchalantly snatched his keys, there was about 30 all together, and made my way to his office while he was talking to someone. Time was of the essence so I had to be real quick. I searched for the filing cabinet brand and matched it with a key on the ring. It opened perfectly, and there my damsel in distress was waiting.
I grabbed her, re-locked the cabinet, and placed his keys on his desk as he walked into the office. We had a nice little chat, all the while the Queen was propped against my back. I eventually left the school with my prize back in my hands, but I knew she couldn't go back up on the walls again, too dangerous. So after some time to let things calm down, princess Diana took her place. Sad thing is, it just wasn't the same. The Queen had to come back.
Senior year, at our last concert, I made my move. The band director always gave out little awards at the last concert of the year, and I decided to give him one instead. The Royal Band Director Award. With the Queen, after a year of hiding, being displayed in between the glass, I gave this award to my band director. On the award it said, "For tolerating the many antics, nonsense, tomfoolery, and shenanigans brought upon by myself and the class of 2015. "All Hail the Queen."
There are so many more antics but I will end it here. I did a lot of stupid stuff throughout my four quick years of high school, many taking place in band. I loved doing each and every one of my little antics and I am very grateful that my band director was able to put up with me for so long. I look back to these memories and I just smile. I did shenanigans in high school. I am currently doing shenanigans in college. And you can bet your horses that I will continue to shenanigate as long as I'm alive. Thanks to all who put up with me, especially my high school band director.
