I felt so embarrassed I could’ve died. I was called out by my eighth grade Earth Science teacher during the middle of class. I didn’t even know the answer. Mr. Stevens had done this on purpose. My face turned as red as a tomato and my eyes watered for what seemed like forever after receiving unwanted attention. I absolutely detested it. Things like this happened all the time starting in when I was about fourteen years old. I couldn’t tell you why. When I started my last year of middle school it became natural to me. I became the human embodiment of Anxiety. I couldn’t even wear colors without feeling like every eye in the room was on me. I did my best to camouflage myself in the sea of students in middle school. Maybe I was just being selfish, I thought to myself. To think that other people were actually looking at me? I didn’t …show more content…
Everything had been going okay; at least things had been going about how they usually did. When we were required to play our music as a test, my hands would go numb, I would mess up on both the rhythms and the notes whether I knew the music or not. My marching was incredibly average; I had “bendy” knees when I would march backwards. To my complete astonishment, when they announced the people that had gotten a field spot of their own, I was among that group. Unfortunately, my best friend’s name was not on the same list. She was given a spot to share with an incoming rookie, which gives the impression to your section that you aren’t very good, even if they know you are. She was furious, disappointed, and discouraged. When that practice ended; she never came back. The next day the leaders of my section asked me questions about her- by which they meant if I would be okay without her. We were known as the girls who were “attached at the hip”. We stayed together constantly- in and out of rehearsals- unintentionally isolating ourselves from the rest of our
To make it even harder to focus, we could hear the music of another guard’s performance throughout warmup. I encouraged my team to stay focus on how we want to perform. As we prepared to perform, several girls began crying and hugging as if we were already done. I talked to each girl I passed and told them that it was time to focus and to show this crowd how good we are. That performance was the perfect ending to the season; it was everything we had worked for. However, we weren’t done yet; we still had to fold our floor, put away our flags, and get ready for the awards ceremony. On our way to put away our equipment, one of my girls started crying and apologizing for a mistake she had made, afraid that she compromised the show. I told her immediately that whatever score we made, we earned it as a team. I comforted her with my own struggles of perfectionism and feelings of inadequacy, but those feelings don’t necessarily reflect our
With song lyrics playing in my head, I strolled into our local Wal-Mart with my mother and sister, excited to purchase a new set of headphones. For the day's attire, I'd chosen long khaki shorts, a black band logo shirt, knee-high black socks, Globe skate shoes, and my cute Pokey backpack. As I walked along, I tried not to pay attention to the fact that I was being stared at more than usual.
Whenever kids join band, they typically have their mind set on the instrument they want to play, and for me, this was percussion. In sixth grade we had the opportunity to join band, and become part of prestigious and successful group at our school. I dreamt of being the lead percussionist and leading the band by keeping the beat and making sure everyone was always together. I had my heart set on percussion ever since I was little, seeing my uncle play drums, banging his head around wildly, hitting drumsticks so hard they broke, and having so much fun with it; I wanted to have that much fun, too.
The summer of 2016 and 2017 showed me a purposeful and eye opening experience. I spent the summer as a counselor at a day camp called YMCA Summer Camp, where I had attended as a Junior counselor. This summer camp is located in Spring Valley YMCA, Royersford, PA and is one of the branches of the Philadelphia Freedom Valley YMCA . Bonding the kids brings devoted memories of days of fun and play I had as a counselor.
Four years ago during the summer before my first year of high school, I started volunteering as coach of a fourth grade cheer squad with three of my friends. We needed to teach twenty-eight girls a one-minute dance and a hello cheer before their first game. I went into that first practice very naive, believing the girls would listen and do as I say. That practice turned out to be a complete mess. The kids jumped all over me, would not pay attention for more than three motions, and repeatedly asked me random questions about the things I liked. That two hour practice was one of the most hectic and frustrating moments I have experienced, but, at the same time, it was new, exciting, and entertaining. The past years of coaching have allowed me to form strong relationships with these girls to the point where I see them as my little sisters. Being their coach involves more than just teaching them cheers and dances, sometimes I have to settle their differences, comfort them, and let them have fun. When the girls reached sixth grade, the team started to go through drama. One practice, two girls
For some people, Band Camp is amazing and it’s a wonderful experience that you can always look back on. But for me, Band Camp was a complete disaster. From the first day there to the last, I dreaded the whole thing.
I have been involved in band since the sixth grade when I picked up my very first clarinet. This year I was very fortunate to be selected as the 2017 Senior Drum Major of our marching band. This role has taught me a lot about myself and it has allowed me to strengthen my abilities as a leader. During the course of the marching season, I learned the best way to effectively lead the band so as to make progress while still maintaining an upbeat atmosphere.
When I was signing up for my classes for sixth grade I remembered noticing band as an option. I had recalled the day when my cousin Matt told me that he attended a year of band class before. It seemed that he really relished the class. I decided to focus on the subject of music for a little while so, I put that down as my option. Once I received my schedule for the new school year I was ecstatic to see that band was on my list. I relished in the culture of music and became to love it. Everyday was a new adventure in my teacher’s class. The first time I made a noise in my instrument it sounded atrocious. But through time and practice I became a better musician. I showed people that I did have a talent.
How many parents are foolish enough to allow their first born child to play the drums? Whether it was lack of sleep or naiveté, they actually did bid on drum lessons for me at an elementary school fundraising auction. Imagine the response of the other parents when they were comparing what they had won. A day at the spa, a family portrait session, or a weekend getaway had to be the standard compared to freely buying drum lessons for a raucous seven year old. Little did they know, their whimsical prize would make me a better person. Drumming has brought out the best qualities in me and it never would have happened had they been like other parochial parents and used their bidding paddle for something more mundane. After three years of pounding out simple beats my
It was June 9 2010. This day was a ordinary day for most, but not for me. For me it was the first step to becoming a Eagle. June ninth was my first day of Cub Scouts. At five thirty in the afternoon, me and my dad finished eating dinner I went back to my room to put on my freshly dry cleaned uniform, which gave me a feeling of joy. Me and my dad both got into the car and off we went to my first Cub Scout Meeting. The meetings were held a Sandburg Elementary and I was joining Troop 1209. At the meeting, I was introduced to the entire pack. Then i was assigned to Den 12 or the Phoenixes. The most important people in my life at that moment was my dad and Den 12 because they helped get though so much as a Cub Scout.
Ever since I was a small child, I have loved music. The strong, steady beats, the
Thomas Merton once said “Compassion is the keen awareness of the interdependence of all things.” We are all affected by decisions of others to be selfish or selfless. My music club, in conjunction with my tutoring experiences, displayed me as selfless, enabling me to connect, progress and inspire my own community.
As the dark stadium filled with fire, with the sounds of guns and bombs exploding everywhere, the crazed fans yelled at the top of their lungs. The enormous stage was rumbling with the sound of a single guitar as the band slowly started their next encore performance. Soon after I realized that I was actually at the Sanitarium concert listening to Metallica play "One", I thought to my self, "Is this real, am I actually here right now?" I had a weird feeling the entire time because I had worked all summer to simply listen to music with a bunch of strangers.
"Hey, be careful and don't do anything stupid," my dad said to me right before I hopped into Chase Miller's dark blue Chevy S-10 with a camper shell on the back. I looked at Chase and Tyler Becker and said, "Let's go camping." As Chase pushed down the gas pedal, a big cloud of black smoke shot out of the back of the truck and the smell of burning motor oil filled the cab.
In the middle of the summer last year I went to a Boy Scout Camp called Ransburg, Ransburg camp is just right off Lake Monroe. As we were crossing over the bridge to get to the camp the water was shimmering reflecting the sunlight and there were alot of boats and people fishing. When we got into the campgrounds we had to register and wait a long time to get back to our campsites. When we got to our campsite they already had tents sets up and had cots set up.