Marching Band: A Personal Analysis

Imagine living everyday with everyone thinking that one never speaks or doesn’t try to expand on their personality. Now imagine that this person is really just trying to think things through and worrying that they may say the wrong thing. This is how I go through my daily life. Everyday I try to speak up more, but then sometimes immediately regret it, wondering if I said something wrong. So everyday, I go through my life labeled as quiet me. I have been told that I have been quiet ever since I was very young. I did not like talking to people I didn’t know, and barely talked to people I did know. Talking to new people made me so anxious I would start to tear up if my family tried to make me talk to new people. When I was

I was really nervous to be around so many people I’d hardly ever talked to. Almost everyone there knew what they were doing and I felt like like the odd one out. It was scary to be new and uncertain around all the upperclassmen. I was very nervous I’d make a mistake and that they’d make fun of me or get annoyed. Of course, being marching band, these fears were really unfounded. Everybody makes mistakes, the key was to learn from them and learn fast. As the season went on, I began to open up a little. I realized that not everybody is out to find my faults or make fun of me. I got pretty close to my section. Even as I tried to open up though, I still had the label of quiet. At the end of the season, my entire section was labeled as “The Quietest Section”. As the years came and went, and I started becoming an upperclassman, I realized it was my chance to step up. I realized this was my chance to rip away the annoying label of

I decided to apply to go to a large conference called HOBY. I had wanted to attend HOBY since I heard my sister’s friend had gone. She made it sound amazing and outgoing and just plain fun. I felt like I needed to experience that. The one thing that scared me, was that I would not be around a single person I knew. The days leading up to that were filled with a mixture of anxiety and excitement. How could I possibly fit in with everybody there? Everybody else must be so outgoing and confident, while I’ll just be sitting quietly. When I got there, my heart was beating as fast as a race horse. We were divided into groups with people from all over Northwest Ohio. No one knew each other. I was pretty nervous and quiet. I spoke when I was spoken to. Once again, I was scared to say something wrong and embarrass myself. Soon I realized everybody was pretty nervous and quiet. I wasn’t so scared anymore. I began to make conversation and became more relaxed. I began to take charge and gain confidence. I began to realize that I didn’t have to be so worried about what other people think. I made many new friends who I still talk to and see