gah!

...but a good gah! Like a, I-dont-know-how-to-describe-this-awesomeness gah!. But, being the owner of this blog, I suppose it's now my duty to describe it to the best of my ability anyway.

Well lets go over some things that are a tad bit vital to this situation.

1. I. Love. Baylor.
2. I can't get enough marching band.

I just can't even begin to list all the reasons I love Baylor... it's just perfect here. Awesome people, awesome friends, amazing events.... the place is full of history and tradition and spirit (which is quite the change from the class of 2010 at Coppell, half of which didn't care, and the other half had a fake school spirit just because they were supposed to) and activities for anyone, anywhere.

Which brings me to the second point: band. I am a finance major, and that really doesn't get in the way at all. At first, I was like, "well, I'm going into business... do I really have time for band? Maybe I should just put it down and move on." Then I started thinking about not having that 300 person family to rely on. Not playing my trumpet. Not marching. Sitting with everyone in the stands, looking at the marching band and saying, "gee, I wish I had done that now."

So instead of just waiting for it to happen, I avoided it and just joined band. Best idea ever. Scott Mason nearly ruined band for me, and I'm so glad I didn't let him take it away from me forever. I love the college band situation so many million times more than Coppell High School's marching band. Of course, it is true that Coppell probably has a better sound, and much more sharp, precise marching technique. But guess what. IT DOESN'T MATTER. College band is about having fun and putting on a show for people at half time. Not contest. It's about looking good and representing Baylor at games while legitimately enjoying yourself. Not being yelled at until you thought you were worth nothing. Results happen because the members of the band care and want to be there. Not because Satan is kicking and screaming in his little nest and running a nazi camp disguised as a marching band rehearsal.

You get it.

Anyway, the rehearsals are amazing, the band is amazing... it's just amazing. But the part I've always loved most is the friendship and relationships that come from band. I could never give up that feeling of togetherness that comes from putting 300 people together and doing a single task in 100 degree heat. This is the reason I stayed in band the most. It's where I fit. It's home. If one thing will fundamentally never change, it's marching band. It'll have different flavors, based on the kind of director, but its still marching band.

Today we had at least a 6 hour rehearsal. By the end of it, I was sincerely sad it was over. I would have willingly kept going, possibly because it was finally under 90 outside because it was 10 PM, but mostly because I just love it.

We had a traditions part, where the freshmen learn all the ups and downs of gameday and some history of the band... blah blah blah. But the end of it nearly made me cry.

To this point, I was the freshmen, they were the band. Separate and completely unequal. At the end of each day of summer band, the freshman would stand, the rest would kneel, and we would sing That Good Old Baylor Line, our alma mater. And I saw the point, singling us out at the beginning. That was all fine and dandy. What I didn't expect was what happened tonight. The freshmen rose at the end, and we started the song. 2 or 3 lines in, the upperclassmen started, one by one, rising and joining us. It hit me deep down, deeper than I would have imagined a simple action like standing up could hit. I suddenly realized there were no longer freshmen and upperclassmen. Just band kids. Just a group of equals. Just one big family. And I was part of it. I was home.

Being a senior in Coppell Band was great. I knew what was going on all the time. I knew right and wrong, what He meant to say, who everyone was, what everyone was supposed to do.... everything. It was home to me. But now, after being taken, fully, into the Baylor University Golden Wave Band, I have a whole new sense of just how much of a support band can be to my life. It's what holds me up. It's what gets me through the days.

And I love it.