This week is the most exhausted I have been for a long time. I have been going to bed earlier, sleeping in later, and constantly find myself trying to take naps while in the car or at home. On all of this, I blame Marching Band.
Of course, I’m not blaming Marching Band in a bad way. I’ve been in Marching Band for less than a week, and already I find myself looking forward to the school year starting so that I can march more often. I have had so much fun marching, playing music, and getting to know the older kids that it’s hard to believe that I’ve only been doing it for about five days.
This week is Metamora Marching Band Boot Camp. Which means that if you’re planning to be in the marching band, you head up to the high school at nine AM, participate in Boot Camp for seven hours, and head home at four in the afternoon. While at boot camp, we do things like learning the basic commands for Marching Band, practicing how to march and roll-step, and playing the music for local parades like Old Settler’s.
There are so many components that go into Marching Band, like step sizing, spacing between people, rolling your steps, and memorizing the music. It’s definitely a lot to keep in mind, but I like the feeling of working at something and getting better at it. I like thinking back to how confused I was at the beginning, and recognizing how far I’ve come in only a few days.
My older sister has done Marching Band for most of her high school career, and she’s always told me that it would be good for me to try it out my freshman year. Joining Marching Band before you actually start high school has many perks, as I have discovered. It means that you can get a chance to explore the school a little, and become familiar with the setup of the classrooms. It means that you can meet many new kids and make new friends before you even start the school year. And most importantly for me, it means that it takes a little bit of the stress out of joining high school.
The only downside to Marching Band is the exhaustion, aching feet, and the sunburns (which I really can’t blame anyone but myself for). But even those have their perks, as I have definitely been having some of the best, deepest sleep that I have had in a long time.
Joining Marching Band has so far been one of the best decisions that I’ve made in a while. Time will tell if I want to stay with it for all four years of high school, but for now I’m just going to enjoy the exhausting, but totally worthwhile, work that we’re doing this week at Marching Band Boot Camp. See you next week!
“Reprinted from Hagel Publications, Inc. dba as Courier Newspapers”