Brief Background: Marching band is an extra curricular where many student musicians play instruments while marching. They typically perform in parades or sporting events.…
"Hurry up! We gotta go. We are to bypass 3rd ID in Baghdad and take the northern part of Iraq."…
Dear Principle Spencer, Associate Principal Lee, and Athletic Director Fry: You do so much for this school. The goal of success for all students is incredibly apparent through your actions. It is obvious that the football team is amazing, and so are the other sports. They all put forth hard work, and earn their greatness. But you are neglecting a major part of home football games: the marching band. The Turpin Marching Band is one of, if not the biggest team in the school, with 150 members. These people train just as hard as the football team. I can tell you with experience, with how many times I’ve pushed a heavy synth cart through the mud, or up the hill to the stadium like King Sisyphus’ boulder in the underworld. I’ve marched so hard I…
Marching band has always meant so much to me. From the start, it was a family to me that always tried, always cared, and always wanted me to do my best. If being drum major could get me any closer to giving that feeling to other people,…
On the day I started band, I walked into the band hall and observed my…
One might wonder what a fifteen-year-old was doing standing atop a thirty-yard dumpster, chainsaw in hand, and yelling, "Give me more! It can hold more!" During my ninth grade year I saw an opportunity to complete my Eagle Scout project, helping the Lenape Valley Church remove massive piles of downed pine branches fallen during an early March ice storm, creating an eyesore and complaints from the local community. The project I was tackling was Herculean, and I, compared to now, very inexperienced at leading people. But it is Boy Scout’s duty to give back to his community and I had promised that the enormous piles of branches and snow would be gone before Easter.…
Have you ever been in the position of leaving your entire family behind? Well, I have an opportunity to make that choice this coming summer. I have a choice between staying here in the United States and playing baseball for an American Legion Team, The Outlaws, or leaving the US and playing for an Ambassador Baseball Team in the Dominican Republic. This decision is tough considering no one in my family can come along. Also in the sixteen years of my life, I have never been away from my family for an extended amount of time. Mainly, I feel there are three big factors in my decision. These factors are meeting new people with a different background, learning a new language and adapting to a new culture.…
Bands of America was very cool this year! The bus ride went very well, only problem being that every bump hit would rewind the movie that was playing. Once we got there everything went very smoothly. I got to help the band moms put the hat boxes in order! Warm ups there were a lot of jitters in the air it seemed, but not bad ones. Waiting to get on the field was extremely nerve wracking. But, once we got on the field everything seemed nice and mellow, like we were back on the field at home, it just had a different crowd and background. I feel really good about the performance. We did the best we could do and our best got us third in our class! Heading to the hotel and getting to lay down and rest was very nice and much needed. The food was…
While being a drum major, patience was achieved. Respect was earned. Integrity was gained, and the hardships were defeated. Conquering these checkpoints will allow oneself to gain the greatest quality of being…
My experience in the Corps of Cadets has been the most rewarding. The Corps is the closest you can get to living and breathing Texas A&M. It molds you into a person you didn’t think possible.…
Ever since the beginning of this year the idea of being drum major has been floating in and out of my mind. I have spent many an occasion debating with myself if I wanted to keep marching with the band, one of my favorite things to do, or if I wanted to take my chances and try to make it as a drum major so that I could conduct, another favorite thing of mine. The lack of enthusiasm from my band friends does not help in favor of my wishes of becoming drum major. Though somewhere along the line my love for conducting won out, and now I find myself writing this essay and biting my nails as the nerves of try outs settle in my mind.…
Sweat trickled down my brow as I raised the sledgehammer above my head. As the loud crack of splintering rock rang through the air, I felt a sharp tinge of pain in my arms caused by my many hours of laborious work. Thoughts of pride, community, and accomplishment are spinning through my head. This is the culmination of my Boy Scout career. I thought back to the beginning of the week when this all started.…
There have been numerous times in my life where I’ve failed at something but there was one specific failure that really opened my eyes to what it really meant to fail. When I was in high school, I was in the band, my instrument of choice was the saxophone. While in the band it is required that you learn your sheet music before you attend any school event. This is to ensure that everyone is doing their absolute best and will make cuts to perform in every function the band was asked to participate. As I mentioned earlier, I played the saxophone and had always made cuts until one day our band instructor issued out new music. Being the person I am, I glanced at the music and said “I see no need for me to practice this, it’s so simple”. Later that…
A time I wish I had spoke up as a leader was a couple of months ago when a past concert band member wanted to be apart of marching band. This individual had not attended band camp, which is a requirement if you want to be in marching band. The individual had family issues which prevented him from attending. Once school started he went to the first football with us and played the show music during class. I thought there would be an exception due to his circumstances of not being able to attend. Later I found out that leadership and our band director would decide whether or not he would be included in our show. His drill spot had been written, now it was just if he was committed and be able to. I thought he deserved a chance, so I wanted to help him. I figured our band director would too. But at the same time, our…
Tennis and marching band are two extracurricular activities that require both dedication and commitment. Prior to entering my first year of high school, I decided that I wanted to take my love for tennis to the next level and make the O’Fallon high school tennis team. In 5th grade, I committed myself to playing the alto saxophone in the school band and all that entails with lessons and practice, with an eye on playing in the high school marching band. During high school, I made a commitment to participate in the Rose Bowl Parade in California. After making that decision, I found out I made the tennis team. Practicing both these activities in the summer and playing during the fall semester put me at odds with my parents on what should come first tennis or band. The amount of time needed for both activities to succeed was monumental and would be an uphill battle compared to the actual time I had. This caused internal conflict knowing that one will not get as much attention as the other. At that moment, I decided to come up with a solution to my problem then put it into action. One way or another I had developed two answers. I realized to become good at band and tennis something had to change.…