No Time For I'm Sorrys
As the leaves turn to brilliant colors of orange and yellow and begin their descent to the Earth, the area around the football stadium is filled with the resonate sound of horns and drums. Every afternoon and Saturday, the Goshen High School marching band gathers to fine tune its skills for upcoming games and competitions. To those of us outside of the band culture, the grueling labor and long hours seem excessive, but, to many of the band members, nothing exists that is of higher importance.
"It's a lot of dedication, which is hard, but I think everyone needs to have something that they're dedicated to, something they enjoy doing, and [marching band is] the thing I like doing," states Jordan Kauffman, probably the most dedicated member of the band. "For me, I just love music.…it's just something that I love. People who like doing math, do math. I like doing music." Jordan has participated in marching band all four years of his high school career. Starting in the beginning of his second year of high school, he began to take leadership positions in the band. As a sophomore, he applied for and was nominated as the section leader of his instrument, the saxophone. His junior year, the talented young man was elected by his peers to serve as an assistant drum major. In marching band, there is no more important role than that of a drum major. The drum majors act as student assistants to the directors, directing and often running many of the rehearsals. This year, however, Jordan sacrificed his drum major position to march on the field to fill a gap in the French horn section. Jordan's sacrifice for the group has placed him at the level of a demi-god in the eyes of the other band members.
Jordan is lanky and lean, with short black hair and a ready smile. Confidence and humility seem to radiate from him, immediately placing those around him at ease. He has a constant optimism that creates an aura of naiveté. His eyes twinkle with excitement every time he talks about music or marching. It's easy to see why the other band members appointed him in so many positions of leadership. His only complaint about band is the few members who don't take it seriously or who don't keep a positive attitude. Jordan works hard and expects others to do the same.
Band is family. When your student walks onto campus, he or she is instantly adopted into the strongest society on campus. They will be spending their school days among the top achievers on campus, with fellow students who look out for one another and steer each other away from trouble instead of towards it. Teachers, staff, parents, and volunteers watch over all the kids as if they were their own.
Wind and rain are environmental factor that mother nature never forgotten during the marching band season. However, when it comes to these weather problems the band has it easy. When it rains everyone is miserable, but there is a difference between being unhappy with the rain and being effected by it. When it rains the band members get wet, and so do their instruments, but that does not affect the way they play. The rain can not damage any of the instruments because they are all metal. They other unfavored weather is the wind. Just like the rain, the wind does not affect the band
The low reed section to me is not just my section, it is my family, and I would love to have the honor of calling myself mom. However, Lauren will always be the original mom and my biggest role model in band. She was the first one to give me hug whenever I was upset, she made sure I didn't get sunburned during band camp, and was overall the most loving, caring section leader I most likely will ever have. As section leader, I would like to devote all my time, love, and leadership to my section and show what an amazing marching experience truly is. Throughout this essay, I will evaluate what Lauren did well, what she could have done better, what I would do differently, and why I am the person for the job.
The way drum corps members perform is deeper on a cognitive level in the brain. The performer has the music in their head while marching and this requires two different parts of the brain. A way to help with the intensity of cognitive power used is through relaxation training or “insight therapy”. In one study, “both the cognitively based treatment program and the behavior-rehearsal program proved effective in reducing musical-performance anxiety”(Kendrick, Craig Lawson, & Davidson, 1982) . These methods reduced performers’ negative self talk. This gives the members a smoother
Whitehill, C.D. (1969). Sociological conditions which contributed to the growth of theschool band movement in the United States. Journal of Research in Music Education, 17(2), 179-192.
Looking around and seeing bright lights and feeling all eyes on you. Hearing both sides of the stadium cheer and shout for their teams and getting nervous during the last few seconds of the second quarter and at the same time being very proud of what the band has accomplished in the brief amount of time it took to learn the pretty intense and complex drill. Then suddenly you get the adrenaline rush that pushes you to perform. Many people would agree that being a drum major is one of the most eminent positions that is held by students who are Being the Drum Major of any band shows that you have the respect and trust of the members of the band and it’s directors. It also shows that you are passionate about what you do, responsible and that
Sweat dripping down my face and butterflies fluttering around my stomach as if it was the Garden of Eden, I took in a deep breathe and asked myself: "Why am I so nervous? After all, it is just the most exciting day of my life." When the judges announced for the Parsippany Hills High School Marching Band to commence its show, my mind blanked out and I was on the verge of losing sanity. Giant's Stadium engulfed me, and as I pointed my instrument up to the judges' stand, I gathered my thoughts and placed my mouth into the ice-cold mouthpiece of the contrabass. "Ready or not," I beamed, "here comes the best show you will ever behold." There is no word to describe the feeling I obtain through music. However, there is no word to describe the pain I suffer through in order to be the best in the band either. When I switched my instrument to tuba from flute in seventh grade, little did I know the difference it would make in the four years of high school I was soon to experience. I joined marching band in ninth grade as my ongoing love for music waxed. When my instructor placed the 30 lb. sousaphone on my shoulder on the first day, I lost my balance and would have fallen had my friends not made the effort to catch me. During practices, I always attempted to ease the discomfort as the sousaphone cut through my collar bone, but eventually my shoulder started to agonize and bleed under the pressure. My endurance and my effort to play the best show without complaining about the weight paid off when I received the award for "Rookie of the Year." For the next three seasons of band practice, the ache and toil continued. Whenever the band had practice, followed by a football game and then a competition, my brain would blur from fatigue and my body would scream in agony. Nevertheless, I pointed my toes high in the air as I marched on, passionate about the activity. As a result, my band instructor saw my drive toward music and I was named Quartermaster for my junior year, being trusted with organizing, distributing, and collecting uniforms for all seventy-five members of the band. The responsibility was tremendous. It took a bulk of my time, but the sentiment of knowing that I was an important part of band made it all worthwhile.
Marching band is not like many other communities where people come together because they are
Where I learned how to become a leader through the leadership ensemble within the marching band. Where in my senior and fourth year of marching competitively, I became the Drum Major, and earned the Best Drum Major Award at the Roxbury Marching Band Classic Competition. From marching band I progressed into jazz music, where I became the lead alto saxophonist in the top jazz band at my school during my junior and senior year. I was also one of three saxophonists in the top band at my school. I picked up the clarinet, the flute, and the soprano saxophone on my way through high school, and have played all three as well in my performing ensembles. I played in the pit orchestra of the theater production of “All Shook Up”, and was the principal saxophonist at my high school. Too be short, I am very involved in all things music in the past and currently. Band and music have been a place for me to rely on, something that brings me joy when sad. Allows me to express myself through sounds and through instruments. It is truly a talent and a hobby that I hope to continue through college and through life because of the joy it brought me and creative outlet it was throughout my
Traditions have always had a substantial effect on the lives of human beings, and always will. Robert Frost uses many unique poetic devices in his poem “Mending Wall,” as well as many shifts in the speaker’s tone to develop his thoughts on traditions. The three predominant tones used are those of questioning, irony and humor.
Earlier on I had mentioned that I did not immediately consider myself for this position. One of the items that changed this is learning that the Drum Major is able to march with the band this coming year. I feel that by doing so, I would be viewed as a part of the band, and not just the kid on the podium. This is a very
Wall’s are blockages used to isolate a human beings wants and feelings. Privacy should be respected by all although offensiveness was not intended by either neighbor. The speaker’s logic was that the wall blocking the properties were absurd. The essential purpose of the poem is the desire by one neighbor to have a better relationship with the other neighbor.
Antigone uses the concept of death in many ways when unfolding the tragic story of Antigone and her rebellion. The most obvious way is how death is used as a form of capital punishment and justice against state-dubbed criminals and wrongdoers. The play first exhibits this notion when Antigone states, “No passing humor, for the edict says who’er transgresses shall be stoned to death” (Sophocles, p. 3). The head of the state, Creon, uses death as a form of justice for the man or woman who is to disobey his law. Creon also emphasizes this by threatening a guard when he is notified that his edict has been violated. Creon states, “Go, quibble with thy reason. If thou fail’st to find these malefactors, thou shalt own the wages of ill-gotten gains is death” (Sophocles, p. 8). Death is once again used as a threat and form of justice for people sinning against the state laws. However, death is not only used as a form of state justice, it is also portrayed as a factor in personal justification and completion. The notion that people are not whole or justified until they die is emphasized by Antigone when she states, “A sinless sinner, banned awhile on earth, but by the dead commended; and with them I shall abide for ever” (Sophocles, p. 4). Antigone says that through death, human life is justified and made complete, and that death is essentially the final form of justice for any human l...
The wall is a simple stone structure, but the narrator feels as if it creates two separate worlds between the men. It’s unnatural, something that even nature doesn’t love, as it “ sends the frozen-ground-swell under it / And spills the upper boulders in the sun” (ll 2-3): that is to say, when the ground freezes in cold weather, the stone divider begins to fall apart, as if nature never wanted it there to begin with. The neighbor, on the other hand, adores the wall, and repeatedly tells the narrator, “good fences make good neighbors” (l 27). It’s a statement the narrator has learned to despise. Why must they put any border between one another? The only purpose it serves is to make the narrator feel more isolated from his neighbor, who is more than happy to keep others out. No matter how much the narrator pleads to be rid of the barrier between them, the neighbor simply claims, “good fences make good
Human Resource Management (HRM) is fundamentally another name for personnel management. It is the process of making sure the employees are as creative as they can be. HRM is a way of grouping the range of activities associated with managing people that are variously categorised under employee relations, industrial/labour relations, personnel management and organisational behaviour. Many academic departments where research and teaching in all these areas take place have adopted the title department of human resources management. HRM is a coordinated approach to managing people that seeks to integrate the various personnel activates so that they are compatible with each other. Therefore the key areas of employee resourcing, employee development, employee reward and employee involvement are considered to be interrelated. Policy-making and procedures in one of these areas will have an impact on other areas, therefore human resources management is an approach that takes a holistic view and considers how various areas can be integrated.