Personal Narrative: Drum Major

Words: 724
Pages: 3

Sitting in my Pre-AP Chemistry class, my leg was nervously shaking, my eyes were glued on the clock above the teacher on the wall. It was 10 minutes until the bell would ring that would release us for the weekend. The words coming out of my teacher’s mouth were starting to blur like the teacher from Charlie Brown. I was only focused on one thing. Just then, the door to the classroom opened and in walked my band director.

“Yes! This is it!” I thought to myself.

He pulled me outside and we exchanged words. After a few minutes, I walked back in and all eyes were glued on me.

“Did you make it?” “Tell us what happened!” “Are you in?” They all murmured.

After a short pause, I smiled and responded, “Yes!”

The whole class applauded me and
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I would be the first to volunteer to be in charge of the group project, or the one to stand up in front of a crowd to give a speech. I even joined theatre in middle school because of my desire to perform and be up in front of a crowd. Throughout my middle school and high school career, I was in several plays and musicals and led the worship team at my church. All of these accomplishments and experiences did not, however, sufficiently prepare me for being drum major.

Being a drum major was an entirely different story. Being drum major meant I was responsible for the band’s success...or failure. Being drum major meant showing up an hour early to every rehearsal and staying an hour after everyone had gone home for the night. Being drum major meant developing a close relationship with the directors. Being drum major meant being the ambassador of the band. In such a short instant, I was loaded with responsibility.

My first year serving in this position posed countless amounts of challenges and struggles. Because much of what we did was behind the scenes, the phrase, “Do you even do anything as a drum major?” was thrown at me too many times. This simple, yet overused, utterance was the sole reason I nearly abandoned my drum major position after one year. The amount of frustration I felt for not being recognized for the work I was putting into the program essentially outweighed the outcome and reward I was receiving. Being a drum