a tribute of sorts

Two words have changed my life:

marching
band


that sounds like, so freaking stupid, I know. But I don't care. It's true.

8th grade year: I didn't know if I was going to join the marching band at Timpview. I didn't even know if I was going to continue playing my clarinet. But for some random reason, I did.

Freshman year: I hated marching band. What did I get myself into? Why was I running? Why was I in the sun for 8 hours a day for two straight weeks? Why was I sacrificing my time? Who does this?
I wanted to quit, but I decided to stick it out because I signed a contract.

I don't know exactly when it hit me, I think it was a culmination of the whole season. But especially at the BYU competition, I hit the ending note of La Suerte, horns came down, the crowd was cheering and I had the best feeling in the world. It was my best show yet. I don't think I knew exactly why I did marching band, but I knew I liked it. It was hard work, but I liked it.

Sophomore year: I loved marching band. Why had I even thought about quitting? Now the question was, should I go a step further and audition for drum major? I did, and I made it. I was excited but scared out of my brain. I just kept telling myself that I had a year to "train". All would be well.

Junior year: Band was well on it's way. I was learning so much. Zach and David were great Drum Majors and great teachers. Bao and I were prepared. I didn't think I would live up to them and it took awhile to build up my confidence, but I was so stoked.

Senior year: I did my best. The only hope I had was that "my kids" had a great experience while in band. I began to love helping all the freshmen and being drum major took on a whole new meaning. This band was special. This was my band. I loved these kids like I have never loved before. And we had the most amazing season I have ever experienced. It was quite a year and I felt special to be able to have gone through the journey with all them.

marching band:
hardest decision
best decision
no regrets.