"Oh my god I'm so happy to be home!!!" I scream as I literally run into my cabin and begin jumping on my bed. "I'm at band camp, I'm at band camp!!!" Now I know what your thinking. Is this girl for real? Yup I am and this was my junior year at band camp.
Needless to say when a friend of mine and I did this we kind of scared the freshmen away but who cared. I was a junior! No more being crapped on for being an underclassmen. No more being made to sing for things you forget on the practice field. (it pays to know the drum major) And no more having to listen to the music the upperclassmen wanted while in the cabin. Junior year meant freedom.
But it also meant a whole new level of responsibility. Being the section leader as a junior is a treat let me tell you. Though I was the oldest person in the lovely clarinet section for my sophomore year, no one really expected anything of me until my junior year. Yes responsibility was upped but so was the fun.
Like on the night of initiation when all of the freshmen are afraid of the sacrifice and of the fact that they may need to bring towels to dry off the blood, they all come running to the juniors. To them the seniors are too scary and so they come to us. Not that we juniors mind. It's kind of nice to know that we are anchoring them to the world of sanity. (I don't really know what ever gave them to idea of blood and sacrifice. Maybe that's why they are afraid of the seniors.)
Then there is the stress. "Does my section look right?" or "I know that you are normally slow on this move but please, please for me just make it right for competition." How about the mother load of all questions. "Do I want to got out for drum major next year?" That one has been hounding me in my sleep for weeks and I still have a long time to decide.
All I'm giving people is my experience and things the way I see them as I move through my life of band. I'm an upperclassman true but I still help the lower people. I still fix suspenders and I still make sure everyone in my section has their reeds. Heck I even carry extras in that beautifully helpful pocket inside my uniform. I'm just saying what I know of band. Other people know other ways to make it in the band world and I'm not saying how you should. All I am trying to do is give you insight on how I see things.
So go out and live your life as a junior, freshman, sophomore or senior of band. Just remember to do it the way you want to and don't let others ideals stand in your way. Have a happy time and just think juniors. One more year…