Personal Narrative: My First Marching Band

Words: 1104
Pages: 5

We were all lined up in the end zone of my high school’s football field, when I heard the snare drum tap and we counted off with it. “5…6…5, 6, 7, 8” and we stepped off, left foot first onto the grassy field. We slowly passed the white painted lines, hitting each line in 8 step intervals until we reached the 30 yard line. The color guard separated from the band then, and we quickly set all of our flags, sabres, and rifles on specific yard lines. It was dead silent now, and I was standing where we would start the show. I tried to remember to breathe as the two drum majors dressed in bright white jogged to opposite ends of the field and climbed their respective ladders. The audience looked on from the bleachers attentively, unsure of what was about to happen. The girl directly in front of me on a ladder swung her hands a couple times and we counted off again but in a whisper this time, “5…6…5, 6 , 7, 8, and 1,” and my very first marching band show began. …show more content…
My mom, grandma, and great-grandma were all clarinet players so I decided to break tradition and join a totally different section. By doing this my freshman year, I was practically launched into a parallel dimension that I didn’t even know existed. Color guard is complicated, difficult, painful, amazing, exhausting, exhilarating, and the most fun I’ve ever had all at the same time. It has taught me many things over the past four years, but above all: strength, literally and figuratively. I’ve probably gained at least ten pounds of muscle mass but I’ve also grown into a mentally stronger and into a more confident person. My first practice was terrible and I dropped nearly everything I chucked into the air. Most of the time I would throw a toss and then run away from it because I was so scared. Now, I have two weapon solos and a dance solo this season alone, which I never would have thought