Being in marching band isn't just rainbows and butterflies. It's a lot of sweat, tears, a bit of blood (if you happen to fall while back marching or crush your finger in a case), and a whole lot of work. My name is Mikayla Beth Sage and I'm a part of the Sullivan High School Marching Band. This is my story.
Sullivan High School is a small little school in Sullivan, North Carolina. When I say small, I mean small. Like, so small the elementary, middle and high school are all together small. But, it's a school where you know everyone, and are usually friends with them. The football team is what everyone talks about on campus: how they've won another game, participated in some kickoff challenge for little kids, and more. But, the most underrated team at SHS is easily the band.
At SHS, you start beginner band in 5th grade. Sounds a bit early, yes, but as Mr. Donivon (or simply Mr. D, as we all call him) says, "it's never too early to start playing an instrument." Anyway, you go through 5th and 6th grade in beginner and intermediate band, and then, ding ding ding! Come 7th grade, you're a marching rookie.
I started in 5th, as we all do. Mr. D tells everyone how to blow the instrument, then has us do it (with percussion, he gives us a rhythm and we must follow), and rates us 1 to 5 with five being the best on how well we can. I wasn't good with the reed instruments from the get-go, scoring a 2 on clarinet and 1 on saxophone. Brass instruments weren't my strongpoint, either, earning me a 2. Mr. D said that there was no need for me to try any other brass, because they're all played basically the same way. I did, however, excel at the flute, making a 4. Percussion was also a strongpoint of mine, also scoring me a 4. In the end, I decided on flute, because 1) my parents didn't want me banging on everything in the house and 2) my best friend got percussion as well, and we wanted to be different from each other. At first, I was the worst possible flute player ever. But, as we progressed, I got way better, even becoming the best in our grade. But, then 7th grade hit, and the real challenge surfaced: Marching band.
Now, before I go on, I'm going to tell you a little about me. As I said, my name is Mikayla Beth Sage, but you can call me Kay. I'm 15, with dark (dyed) red hair. I'm 5'4, and a sophomore at SHS. I live for music; mainly Blessthefall, My Chemical Romance, and Fall Out Boy. But, I love a ton of other music. I also live for playing music. Currently, I can play flute (section leader in band!), guitar, piano, and drums, and I'm learning bass. I have two really close best friends; first, there's Ashlyn Call. She's tall, blonde, and a heck of a reed player. She prefers her bass clarinet, but she can play the regular clarinet, tenor sax, alto sax, and bari. Mr. D calls her "the reed master." We met in 5th grade at band tryouts, and have been best friends ever since. My other best friend is Ben Walker. Ben and I have been friends for as long as we can remember because our parents are close friends. He's easily my all time best friend. We tell each other everything. He's the best friend I mentioned earlier, and as I said, he picked percussion. It was a good decision, too, because now he's drum captain and our only tenor player. He even outshined a few seniors! He's the one who taught me drums as well. He's 6'1, which is extremely tall for me, and he never lets me live it down. I may have a slight crush on him… What am I saying? I've liked him since around 6th grade. But, I'll live with my little crush bottled up inside because there's no way he likes me.
Anyway, now that you know a little more about my friends and me I'll go on with the story. Marching band came in 7th grade. From the start, I was a little awkward, but isn't everyone their first year? I had a lot to learn, but I caught on quickly. Our first ever show was Les Miserables, and it was tough, to say the very least. I worked harder than I ever had at anything. In the end, we ended up placing 5th at State Championships, which Mr. D said was great because of our show's difficulty. From 7th grade to now, we all improved immensely. My rookie year, I couldn't even hit a third octave D. But, now, I'm section leader and playing each scale 3 octaves. As the old saying goes, practice does make perfect.
Flash to present day, and it's the day before band camp for our 10th grade year. Our show this year is Star Wars, a show I've been wanting to do for ages now. I packed my bag full of all my neccessities—water, flute, flip folder, and ponytail holders—and went to bed. I could only dream of what tomorrow would hold.
