It’s been a year now since I’ve graduated high school, which also means a year since I have been in band. My relationship with band was awkward, to say the least. I loved it and I hated it, at times. I never practiced (sorry, Mr. Bower and Mr. Smith, I know it’s a surprise), and yet got frustrated whenever I got yelled at for not practicing. A full year without being in band though was kind of weird, though, to be honest.
I started band in 5th grade in a sort of pre-band program for elementary school kids to recruit them into band when they got to middle school. We had a presentation early in the year about joining, and for some reason I just wanted to. The conversation between my parents and I went something like this:
Me: “I want to join band. I want to play the trumpet.”
Them: “Uh...ok.”
See, I wasn’t exactly the most adventurous kid ever. I played soccer for a few years, then quit. I did Tae-Kwon-Do for a few years, then quit. I never really took many risks when it came to joining things, so my desire to join band was rather a shock. Ultimately they let me which led to my 5th-grade year consisting of being yelled at typically once a week for never practicing. (FYI, that habit continued for the next seven years.)
I spent the next seven years in band, all the way up through my senior year. I will admit, there were many times where I just wanted to quit and not have to deal with band anymore. However given my track record of quitting things, I was driven to continue and finish and just kept the mindset of “Only three years left...only two years left...it’s my senior year, why quit now?”
I made so many friends in band, and have so many memories. You know, there was this one time at band camp...wait, sorry. What happens at band camp stays at band camp. I had so many great times with people I never would’ve thought I would’ve made friends with, and really never would’ve if I hadn’t joined band. Without band I wouldn’t have had the experience of being piled on bed with six other high schoolers watching SpongeBob while visiting Busch Gardens. There are so many things I’m thankful for that only happened because of my time in band.
I made a conscious decision coming into college though, that I wasn’t going to join band. It was an on and off decision, one that my parents were a lot more on for. Them using arguments like: “Oh, this person that I know has a daughter who joined the band at her school and made so many friends! You should join too!” My parents wanted me to make friends, if you couldn’t tell. Ultimately I just wanted to focus on my academics and make sure I got good grades, so I didn’t join Bloom’s band.
Now my trumpet sits in my closet at home. I miss band, and I will admit it’s been kind of weird. Not doing the usual parades or trips or band camp just felt weird to me. It’s been something I was so used to doing for so long. I miss band, but I think I made the right decision. Although, marching band? I don’t really miss you all too much.