Showing up a week before your freshman year of college starts not knowing anyone, having the notes to the fight songs engraved in your mind, finding tiny pieces of turf everywhere you go…is it really worth it? I’m here to give you three reasons why joining the college marching band will be one of the best decisions of your life!!
You’re basically a campus celebrity…well…sort of.
-
You may be surprised by how many people really do love the marching band! People who see me walking around in band garb will stop me to ask me about it – it’s a great conversation starter! “Oh my gosh I love the band!!” or “What’s next week’s show going to be?” and one of my personal favorites I’ve been asked: “That’s so awesome, but does the band have to have their own body guards??”
You will never have to worry about where you’ll sit in the student section or how you’ll afford the football tickets.
-
Take a second to think about how awesome it would be to get to go to every home football game of your favorite team for free (and sometimes even away games). Sounds amazing, right?! It is so fun to get to be at every game standing in a section of fellow band people who basically turn into a 300-person cheer squad. (Don’t get me started on all of our choreographed stands routines!) There is nothing quite like Football Saturdays and experiencing them as part of the band only amplifies the hype.
You will have a huge family behind you.
- I am a part of a band of 300 which means that even on a campus of 20,000 students, I will usually pass someone I know from band on the sidewalks and frequently have classes with them. Band is the ultimate way to “get out there and meet people” just like your mom told you to do! A fraction of that 300 is my section, the clarinets. While the band is like all branches of your family tree, your section is your immediate family. They know everything about me and are constantly there to support me on and off of the football field whether it be band related or not.
So if you are in a high school marching band that you are getting bored of, or if you are in college and have thought about joining, I am here to say “forward march” and do it! It can be a lot of work and frustrating at times, but it has massive rewards. You will meet some of the best people in your life and create memories that will stay with you way past your college days.