Essay On Marching Band

Introductory Essay

Should high school be spent creating final childhood memories or preparing for the future? The answer may not be clear. I faced a tough decision this past year as to whether or not I should continue with my high school band or take a career-oriented internship. I took every aspect of the decision into consideration as a questioned how my life up to this point would transition into my future. I thought about the stress that came along with leading the marching band as well as the stress of keeping up in school. I also contemplated between my summer internship opportunity and staying for my last year of marching band. Upon questioning my plans for senior year, I discovered that an internship preparing for the future has been more beneficial than the stresses of band.

First, marching band was no longer enjoyable. As a younger member of the band, I had always felt a certain form of “magic” in the group. Sadly, this magic seemed to fade as I grew older and become more responsible for the well-being of the program. By my junior year, I was a squad leader and the junior class officer. As the junior

I seemed to have a band function nearly every night of the week between marching band, Wind Ensemble, orchestra, and flute choir. I would come home from band practice with hours of homework waiting for me. Being a perfectionist, I was unable sleep at night if my homework was not finished. I would go days without any sleep, trying to juggle band, my AP classes, and all of the pressures of my junior year of high school. On top of all of this, I was missing a lot of school for all of the band trips. I even had an AP test the morning after the band returned from New York City. I knew that my senior year in the band would be even more stressful with all of the added responsibilities of being the oldest members of the program. Trying to balance band rehearsals with homework became nearly