Ah, marching band. For some, the marching band was the cue to go get your snacks at halftime. For others, the marching band was a minor distraction in the action of a typical high school or college football game. But for some of us? The marching band was the best time of our high school career.

I went to a small junior/senior high school, so I was able to have six years in the marching band (go drumline!), grades seven through 12. I started out a scared 12-year-old who wouldn't talk to anybody for the first several weeks, and I ended up as a confident 18year-old woman who was band president and drumline captain. Marching band is the reason I am the woman I am today for several reasons.

Discipline.

Marching band is a wonderful teacher of discipline. Do you want to be able to put on a seven-and-a-half minute show when football season starts? You'd better buckle down and focus during band camp and rehearsals. When you walk into a marching band rehearsal, yes, you'll have fun, but only if you're accomplishing what you're supposed to be accomplishing during that time. Ask any former band kid if they had fun at the rehearsals where they weren't doing what they were supposed to be doing - I can guarantee every one of them will say no because they were too busy getting told to focus on having fun.

Teamwork.

Teamwork is something that is drilled (Get it? DRILLed?) into your head. The whole point of marching band is that you're a part of something bigger than yourself. You become a part of the whole, sacrificing your individuality to be a part of a unit. And if your section isn't working together, the entire band suffers. If you're spending your marching band career trying to outplay everybody or show off to the band director, it affects the entire band.

Practice.

"Don't practice until you get it right, practice until you can't get it wrong." I think that's the motto of every band director ever. Marching band teaches you that you won't always get everything right the first time, but if you practice and persevere and work your butt off, you can succeed in the end, and that success is so much sweeter after you work for it. The feeling of playing a riff perfectly or nailing your solo after months of practicing is a feeling that can't be replicated.

Failure.

Didn't make it into honors band this year? Didn't get first chair? Totally messed up your solo at the big game? As much as marching band can teach you about how good success feels, it also teaches you a lot about failing with grace. If you mess up your solo, the whole band isn't going to reset so that you can go back and redo it - they have a show to finish, and so do you. You have to keep going and act like it never even happening. And so it goes with life. Life won't go back and let you fix your mistakes, so you have to learn from them and immediately move on.

"Did you try your best? Yes? Then that's all that matters." -my own high school band director after every single audition I went to for six years.

Confidence.

When I joined marching band in the seventh grade, I was terrified. I had been playing the piano longer than I'd been playing the drums, and I could hardly play the piano in front of people! Sixty football games, 12 school concerts, six honors concerts, and countless rehearsals and auditions later, I learned that if you never put yourself out there, you learn what you can accomplish. Discovering what you can do gives you the confidence to go out there and do it again. And again. And again.

Leadership.

In high school, leadership opportunities are few and far between, but one of the best places to get some leadership experience was in the marching band. Every section had a section leader, and the band itself had four officers. I worked my way from band secretary to assistant drumline captain, to drumline captain, and finally to band president. In the American school system, so often we are told to conform and to follow the leaders appointed to us - teachers, principals, superintendents... But in band, we were given the opportunities to be those leaders. We could decide what music we did or where we went for our spring trip. It was also a wonderful lesson in being a fair leader who ran a democracy who listened to the other students when a decision needed to be made.

Passion.

Passion is something that can't be taught in the classroom. Passion is something you find yourself. In high school, my passion was band. I put a lot of blood, sweat, and tears (literally) into learning drill and music, teaching my underclassmen and making sure we put on great shows every week. I learned that when you are passionate about something, nothing anyone says can make you think differently about that subject. And I learned that you work a lot harder at things when you're passionate about them.

All of these qualities are highly valued by colleges and future employers, and they are all qualities I was able to develop and refine through marching band. I might not march or play the drums anymore, but the skills and life lessons I learned in marching band have stuck with me since I graduated, and I know I'll never forget them.