The End of Marching Band Season

Lately many people have been getting sick with swine flu and other illnesses as winter approaches. Unfortunately, the marching band at Kennedy was hit pretty hard. We were continually missing at least 20 kids from class everyday, which is a good size portion of our entire band. I didn’t think it would matter that much, although I did want the people to get better and get back soon. Unfortunately, our principal and director thought that we had too many people sick and that we needed to cancel the competition we had planned for Saturday. We were going to head to Ankeny and perform in our last competition of the year. I was really excited because I love marching band and I really wanted to end our season on a high note. Our director though, knew most of us who were coming to school were also sick and as much as I know she wanted to go, she knew putting us all on a bus together would only make us sicker. She also thought our show had too many holes and it just wouldn’t be worth it. I found out that our competition was cancelled at the beginning of 6th hour and I was pretty depressed I’m not going to lie. Some kids were really excited but I really look forward to these, especially this competition because it was our last one. I guess I am not a senior, thank goodness, so there is always next year.

Even though our marching band competition was cancelled we still performed at the Friday night football game against Dubuque Hempstead. We lost the game in the last 50 seconds which was sad but other than that the night was pretty fun. I was still kind of bummed that we weren’t going to Ankeny but I wanted to make our show good since it would be the last time we would perform it for the football crowd. It was also senior night so we got to watch all the seniors walk across the track and hear their college and major of choice. That was nice to hear and it was fun cheering for all the band kids. After that we performed our show for the last time on the football field. I felt that it went really good. At the end of every performance our director usually gives us a little speech on how we did. Afterwards she did give us a speech which also explained why she chose for us not to go to Ankeny. I realized that she really did have our best interests at heart but it was still hard to understand why we weren’t going. She told us we did everything we could with what she had given us and she even got teary eyed at the end. I thought it was a very emotional speech and I was glad she gave it. Earlier in the week she had given us a speech and said that no matter how old we were or where we went with our lives we would always remember being a part of the Kennedy Marching Band as well as all the people we met along the way. I know that she means this because every year at our competitions all the college students who have graduated come back to watch us perform and they really want us to do well. It makes me happy to know that even though I only have one year left after this my friends and I will always be a part of the marching band. Out of all the teachers I have had at Kennedy, my marching band director has taught me the most. I have some of the worst memories when I think of band: grueling long hot days at band camp and boring days sitting in Symphonic Band. But when I look back at the best memories I have of high school so far they all seem to be of marching band with the great people I met in marching band. Sometimes marching band really sucks, but yet I find myself coming back every year because I just can’t quit. I don’t really know why I love it so much, I mean we are just marching around a field playing music. It’s just that feeling I get every time I hear a recording of us playing Carmina Burana, or how I feel as I march off the field at Valley knowing I did my best as the drum line plays the cadence behind us. It’s the feeling that we are all one big family. Once I leave the halls of Kennedy to move on to what some would say are bigger and better things I know I will always remember the family I had at Kennedy and as well as the one class that made me smile every day(at least almost every day).