sniff senior nite.....the last game of the season.....what I wrote after the game, on how band is, and how its a family, and how it's a life changing experiance.
Somewhere B E T W E E N The Camp and The Contests...
And the cold practices...the hot practices...and the losing of games.....and the rare winning of games...Somewhere b e t w e e n the after school trips to the Spartan Grille, and not going home 'til after practice...and the section rivalries...and the jokes...I found out something. I re-discovered something I already knew, but had forgotten. I remembered band.....and what it was REALLY about. How it wasn't just about the leadership, or the chair rivalries, or the traditions. How it was about the music, And not only the music, but the people involved with the music. Band is about the music, the fun times, and the friends you make. Its not about the parties, or the hook-ups, or what goes on in the back of the bus...but about the lifelong ties you make with your section, and the band. It's about moving up to high school, and instantly having 70 friends you can look to for help. I remembered some stuff...And then I learned some stuff. I learned its okay to mess up. And it's okay to skip class for important stuff, and its okay to break down, because there's always someone to help you get through it. I learned that after joining band, your non-band life is non-existant, and you can't keep things a secret. You can have a private conversation with someone, and not tell anyone, but by the next day the whole band will know exact words of what went on. I learned that the band fights like a family, because the band IS family. We're there for each other, and we care, and we love each other. For at least five months, during the marching season, the band room is your home, the band parents are your grand parents, your section leader is your mommy or daddy, and you section is your siblings. I found out in band, band camp is fun, practice is fun, games are fun, but contests are the most fun. And they take a lot of work. And sometimes, it takes awhile to get good. But eventually, it pays off. And sometimes, if you've done extra good, you get that feeling, that nothing can bring you down, because you KNOW you've done good. But basically, I've learned that band, though sometimes hard, and often stressful, is a life changing experience, and that will never change. And even though you lose the seniors, you lose people to new schools, you lose people period, you still gain people. And though you may shrink small, you WILL grow, you WILL survive, and you will STILL have fun. Big bands are nice. Small tight-nit bands are sometimes even better. But no matter what size it is, band is band, and what you do and what you learn can change your life forever.