Experience Overcome
...mpetitions. We worked four hours a day for five days a week, practicing our fundamentals and getting a feel for our new show. Once school did start, we practiced at 7:00 a.m. and went for two hours every day, working on music and marching. Our band contained Yochum 2about eighty members, the largest it has ever been, and our sound was as stunning as a professional orchestra. It was a severe task trying to teach a large group because of the difficulty of the moves we were attempting. The season shuffled along with surprising ease though. By this time we had learned all of the show and weeded the tedious drill out, like a garden, to make it perfect. Now it came time for the big event. Our attentive attitudes sparked the flame that fed the fire for our routine. During this time the day went into super slow-motion. The cheers from the crowd bounced off the back of my ears as the natural high of trumpets, the smoothness of the saxophones, and the great bottom line by the low brass echoed back. The boom-boom of the bass drum was totally in sync with its snare counterpart while the woodwinds blew up a storm. We had made it through half of the performance and now came time for me to be singled out. My body shook as if I was experiencing a humanistic earthquake. I took a deep breath and prepared for my salute. I mastered the forward and reverse rotation and my nod to the judges. Then came the most important part, my actual salute. Because my nerves had my hand sweating and my movements sliced through the air with complete discipline, I jolted my baton right out of my fingers. I stood shocked as if I had dreamt the catastrophe, but the gasping crowd brought me back to reality. I had become immobilized, like God had frozen the earth. When I awoke from devastation, I simply snapped back to position in front of my band and gently picked up my baton. I pretended like nothing had happened and completed the drill. The show ended–a roar of “Union Grove! Union Grove! Union Grove! " waved over the field, and we Yochum 3knew that had been our best show to date, signified by the gleaming faces pointed toward the press box. After taking it off the field, we watched other bands compete until it was time for the awards ceremony. I changed back into my uniform with the gut feeling of sweepstakes right within reach; I just had to step forward and take it. The freshly cut football field folded under each step of my fellow drum majors and myself. As it was the middle of the afternoon, the sun's rays luminously shined down on everything in their path, perhaps foreshadowing the great luck we would have that day. I marched single-file along the sideline of the field and peacefully came to parade rest slightly to the right of where my band crew was sitting. After a while of watching ...