1. How long have you been in the marching band?

I’ve been in the marching band since my freshman year of high school, and I’ve done it every year since.

2. Were there any challenges you faced while practicing for the marching band?

If you’ve got things going on, if you’ve got other outside activities, or you have work going on, practicing can be tough—especially if your instrument has to stay at the school, you’re only able to practice after school. So, I did have to carve out time here and there to talk to the teachers to unlock the door and go in after school to practice, but it does get pretty hard if you try and balance it with other things.

3. What made you get into the marching band?

I’ve been into music since I was around ten years old. I started playing drums when I was ten, and then I played the baritone in middle school. But the marching band was kind of the next step in music if I wanted to keep doing it. My band director was always talking about how, if you want to start getting serious about music and you want to make it more a part of your daily routine, then the marching band is the right step. So, after just a passion for music at a young age, I just thought marching band would be fun; it’s more of a deeper dive into music during high school.

4. What does the marching band mean to you?

Marching band is very important to me. It is about hard work and attention to detail, and it is also about learning, teaching, and growing. It is about lending a helping hand and working as a team. Marching band means a lot of different things to a lot of different people, but anyone in it probably will say that it means a lot to them.

5. How would you describe the marching band in five words?

I’d say determined, busy, smart, strong, and probably funny (there’s a lot of goofballs in the band).