August is right around the corner, and with the fast approach of the end of summer comes something very close to my heart...band camp! The terrifically exhausting adventure of "finding your dot", snapping to attention, aching feet, and sore calves begins shortly for many bands across the nation. Although my band experience has most likely met its bittersweet end, I can look fondly back onto all that it brought me. A wise band director used to drill into us, her students, all of the real-life applications of music. I don't think she could have been more right.

After spending nearly a decade immersed in school music programs and five years in a small (but mighty) marching band, I've begun to shed the label of "band kid". To no longer have that comfort zone of a label and an empty void where the band room used to be, I'm simultaneously more free and mildly lost. Though I don't have a field to report to at four o'clock every evening next year, I think I've definitely gained a road map for navigating that free time.

Work ethic produces results

I will be the first to tell you I wasn't particularly spectacular at playing my instrument. I didn't always breathe correctly, and I had intonation issues. However, when I practiced and really gave it my all with a healthy dose of confidence, it could be magical. I don't think there is anything more rewarding than being able to play something correctly not only once but twice. After putting in the good practice to make something of the ink on the page, I found out my dad really was right and practice did make perfect. Creating music is a wonderful thing to experience with the whole of your heart and effort behind it.

Keep your hair braiding friends close

There are few people in this world who are loyal enough to braid your hair for every parade or performance. Keep those magnificent humans close. Your true friends are the ones are the ones who stick with even if your hair is knotty.

Key, time, road(map), ghost (play)

Sight reading! As an amateur musician, sight reading is pretty much the most daunting thing ever. Having a minute with a piece of music you have never seen before and being judged on your performance seconds later is where nervous, shaky musicians (like myself) go to die. In those moments, a quarter note seems like the most complex thing and an eighth note is sure, sudden death. All bets are off and every last marble has been lost.

The only thing that ever allowed me to focus on the staff sheet in front of me was this quasi checklist a teacher taught me many years back. For some reason, it stuck and helps me to regain focus and analyze only what is in front of me.

First, check the key signature to make sure of what key you're in. Make note of the time signature to know how you should be counting out the measures. Look for any "road maps" in the piece that will give you specific direction such as crescendos or codas. Ghost playing or "mentally" playing through the song puts together all of the previous puzzle pieces before you are ready to perform.

That melodic process has not only helped me through many auditions, but it also centers me and gives me great focus. That single process has given me an appreciation for having a plan to execute something before I do it and knowing that I can aptly prepare myself for action amidst chaos as long as I can focus.

Embrace your surroundings

Maybe it was growing up as a music kid in New Orleans or it was simply being in a marching band, but I've seen some really bizarre and otherwise out of place things as a member of band. Nothing else can add up to being in the middle of a parade route the week before Mardi Gras. It's also not too shabby to perform on the field of a Nation Football League stadium as a thirteen year old. There were so many experiences that I just had to stop and soak in.

Have fun being yourself

Not many moments in life will make you feel more powerful than playing a sousaphone... in heels.

Rock a tuba and heels, or have a little fun dancing to drum line cadences at a volleyball game. If you are confident and having a great time, who cares if someone thinks you're not their definition of fun.

Love and let go

Like all things in life, there will be an end. Though my heart will ache the first time I see the Golden Band from Tigerland march into Death Valley, I know, for me, it was time to let go. I will always support the world of music and cherish my time in band. I learned to love and invest so deeply in something, but I also learned how difficult it sometimes is to walk away to create room for new passions.