Steele: Rudy, are you ready for this, champ?
Rudy: I’ve been ready for this my whole life!
Steele: Then you take us out on the field.
Every Notre Dame student knows and has seen the story of Rudy. The underdog hero of Notre Dame. This week’s campus celeb is the Rudy of our own generation. Ladies and gents I present to you, Nicole Schneider.
If you go to Notre Dame you know that the band is an essential part of football culture. If you have ever been to an away game, you realize how much the student body needs the band. The Notre Dame band is something special. Let’s be real, we have the greatest fight song of all university fight songs.
Nicole Schneider came to Notre Dame with no thoughts of joining the Notre Dame marching band. She did not even have any experience on a band instrument, but within a month all of this had changed.
When she was in sixth grade, Nicole visited campus for the first time with her family and the first thing she saw was the band playing the on the steps of Bond Hall. As Nicole told me, “I just thought they were the coolest people.” Immediately, She had serious respect for the band members. However, during middle school she did not like band – she had tried the flute in 5th grade, but quit shortly after. Consequently, she never dreamed of becomng a part of the Notre Dame band.
Fast forward nine years and Nicole found herself in Badin hall, which happened to have three freshmen trumpet players. Suddenly, the idea of being in band didn’t seem that far off.
In September, her friend Alex let her try out in trumpet in the Badin chapel. After that, Nicole knew that she would do anything to make the band the following year. By October, she had a trumpet of her own and as every resident of Badin will inform you, Nicole practiced allll the time. There is footage of Nicole practicing the band trot down the hallways. You could hear her practicing in the chapel every day.
The most impressive part is that she taught herself. She used fingering charts and any sheets of scrap music she could find. She said that she tried taking a lesson, but it just wasn’t for her. She knew the best way to learn was going to be by herself. Fittingly, the first song she learned was the fight song.
In addition to her trumpet playing, Nicole became the biggest Notre Dame band fan there ever was. As she said, my family always knew where to find me because it was wherever the band was. From my own experience with her, she would leave the tailgate scene to make sure she made it to the concerts and march-outs on time.
When I asked Nicole why she had such a love for the band, she stated simply that it is the ideal representation of Notre Dame. The band is not there to impress or win, but simply to show spirit and unity. Their goal is to bring people together. I think any Notre Dame student would agree with this completely.
So after a year of practice, auditions finally came. Nicole had never done a musical audition before. As she truthfully admitted, she was scared to death. For the playing audition, you play just in front of the directors. Annnd she did it! But afterwards, she didn’t really have hope anymore. It went ok, but everyone else had been playing trumpet for more than 8 years.
For those who don’t know, to find out if you made the band or not, you have to walk to Loftus and see if your name is on the list or not. The morning of results, Nicole made the trek all the way to Loftus. Lo and behold, a year of dreams came true. There was her name on the list.
Her first reaction, she broke down completely. Then she texted her mom, who didn’t believe her until she called.
It wasn’t until the moment that she had the full band uniform on that it really hit her. She had done it. A year of practice had all been worth it. She was now part of the incredible Notre Dame band
Today, you can see Nicole out on the field where she belongs more than anyone I know. She is the definition of the Notre Dame band. She is so spirited and proud to be part of Notre Dame. The band turned out to be everything she wanted it to be.
“I absolutely love it,” she told me with a huge smile. “ It is the favorite part of my day, it is a great time to relax and be with the best people and play music.”
Nicole Schneider, you are an inspiration to so many of us. The hard work, dedication, and passion that you put into learning the trumpet and making the Notre Dame band are so admirable. You are the new Rudy! Congratulations on achieving your dreams!
Nicole would like to give a shoutout to Alex for helping her learn how to play the trumpet, “the amount of time she gave to me is unthinkable, I owe her so much,”
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All images courtesy of Nicole.