Assignment 21- Erica (College)

I love band. Or at least I do now. My first marching band season was a horror movie.
The Introduction:
 The first day. Simple enough, get up at 7:15, pack a lunch, fill up my water bottle, tie my shoes, grab my clarinet and get in the car. The day was going great. it was 8:55 and I was sitting pretty in the band room. UNTIL we were sent down to the "field" (a pretty word for the parking lot) and that is when we meet the monsters.
The Rising Action:
She was a monster. Angry and short tempered always pulling me away and telling me how bad it was. She was my section leader, what is suppose to be the emotional back bone I lean on and she destroyed my confidence.(Marching band is incredibly emotional. I mean 12-13 hour days, even the toughest of the tough feel that at the end of the day) One great example of this is one day over fall break I got sick, very sick. I was dehydrated and I pushed myself too hard. I made a mess of myself and it was no fun. She then made me feel awful about getting sick.
Every season there are those days that feel awful, that feel impossible to get through. But I was a Freshmen, there was no way I knew that then.
Defeating the Beast:
It was state, and I was sick. I had the flu but I had to get on the bus and tour around to middle school and then stay on the bus and travel to Western Kentucky University. But I did it. I didn't speak a word to my section leader. We stayed in the cheapest, nastiest motel I've ever been in I somehow had fun. I smiled through it all. I had an amazing time.
The Ending:
A happy ending. I love marching band. Just the other day I was jumping around at the back of the band room listening to next years program. It was worth it. The pain of my first marching season only shows how things get better. Like a fine wine I simply needed to let marching sit around in the lonely cupboard that is my mind and let it age.
Now don't get me wrong, marching band is the toughest and most emotionally destructive part of high school but I'm glad I defeated the beast and made it to the end instead of just rolling over and quitting. Now I graduate with 2 extra credits and 4 bars for marching band.