After School Practice

Starting school is one of my most highly favored times of the year. Between  shopping, school orientation, and the anticipation of seeing long, lost friends how could anyone find a problem with starting back to school? I asked myself this as I anxiously woke up on the first day of school feeling as though I could conquer anything. This all quickly changed as the excitement of school began to fade as we progressed through the day.

As we walked in the door there was a multitude of people standing in line waiting to see where their homeroom would be for the year. When me and my best friend Kaylee finally preserved through the crowd,  we found our homeroom teacher. The moment we walked through the door we were handed our schedules. The excitement grew as Kaylee and I compared schedules. When we were dismissed to our first period, butterflies started to go crazy inside of my stomach as my first day of sophomore year was under way.  The rest of the day flew by and the nerves I experienced previous in the day were completely gone. Finally, it was time for band, the last period of the day!

The band director met with us in the lobby of the school.  He started to discuss what our itinerary would be for after school practice. Band camp was very exciting but it also left me with a lot of disappointments. Every member of the color guard team had formed a “click” by the time band camp was over. Our leadership team was a mess by the time school started. The girls became so difficult to control that no one could handle us. The lack of unity left our group facing many challenges as we dreaded to deal with each other for the rest of the marching season. Not only did our coach want to leave because of the lack of respect, but there was a possibility that we would not be able to march in band competitions because we could never get anything done.

The last week of band camp left me questioning if participating in the band would be worth it. I contemplated my options very heavily before school began and after weighing all options I decided that I would continue my journey as a flag girl. When the band director dismissed us to the practice field, we all met Cheryl at the top of the hill to start polishing old routine. Sweat began to pour off everyone as we repeated each section of the routine countless times. As the clock struck three it was time for volleyball members  and cheerleaders to be dismissed, but for the remaining members it would now be time to start reviewing drill with the band. The band remained on the practice field, reviewing sets until it was time for practice to be over. When four o’clock finally arrived, the band director called us all in for a meeting. This meeting was pointless to me, I was ready to go home! Finally, the meeting was over and we all departed from the hill ready to collapse.  (520)