My Personal Essay

Alone on a Field

There I was, standing alone on the field staring straight into a crowd of at least five hundred fans, with another five hundred sitting behind me watching my every move. Before I know it the down beat comes and I’m off and suddenly not alone anymore. I am now back to safety as just one of the two hundred kids that make up the MVHS marching band. This is what I felt my first show as part of the MVHS marching band. I had felt alone until the rest of the drum-line made their presence known by booming into the first forte buzz roll, and then joined by the rest of the band in a giant roar. It was then that I realized I was not only person, but one part of this massive machine of movement and sound.
As a group we marched through the first movement. I focused only on my part and played it well however a little bit into the show I realized my part was not fitting in with the rest of the band. At this point I had to add the one more task of figuring out what I was doing wrong, while still playing and marching my part. This proved quite difficult, as by now drops of sweat were barreling down my face, and at no point could I get enough air. Miraculously I was able to make a seamless connection to the rest of the band. Although I was able to perfect my playing, it was now the third movement, almost halfway through the show, and my marching still needed work.
Now in the third movement, my fatigued mind no longer had to think as hard about the music, but now I needed to move on to fixing my marching. Like many people, for me staying in step with two hundred other people was no easy task, especially when I had a big golden stripe down the side of my pants making every mistake I made very obvious. By this point I had been marching for at least three minutes strait, constantly on my toes, with a thirty pound drum puling on every muscle in upper body. No small task, as by now my legs were dead and I had to muster up all the energy I had left to stay focused and get my feet in time. Finally we came to a halt giving me time to rejuvenate my energy and giving me a fresh start to put everything together to make it look and sound good.
The final movement had come, I departed from the halt going all out playing and marching the best I could. Now the music and marching was fitting right in with the band, looking and sounding great. We were two hundred kids coming together to produce this one sound and one fluid motion. At the end of the show I walked of the field knowing I had preformed the best I could and with the expectation that the next show would be a step up and keep improving.
In the end, the sensation of being joined by two hundred other students and working to create one production gave me to confidence to pursue much more both in and outside of the marching band. I am now in my junior year and still in the marching band, I have not ceased improving and although I now start my shows with confidence and as a part of the machine that is the marching band.