Responsibility and Commitment

       I am a very determined person. When I put my mind to something, I carry it out to the best of my ability. Especially if I care about it. That being said, I am in marching band. Last year, out show "Cleopatra" brought us to 8th place in Kettering, Ohio BOA Regional Finals (amazing score for those of you who are wondering). No, we did not place first, but we became one of the only 12 high school marching bands in Georgia EVER to make it into finals. We then won overall grand champions when we competed at Fannin County High School. In Atlanta BOA, we didn't make finals, but we moved up many places from the previous year. A great season, very accomplished we felt. 

       This year, we have an amazing show. However, we don't have the commitment and responsibility from the members that we should. I, along with about 30 others, really care about marching band and give our all. It angers us when people don't try. For the first half of our season, we never had a good performance at football games. The week of our first performance, we had a terrible Tuesday practice. We got very little accomplished and our director stopped practice several times to yell at us. I left practice crying thinking, "This is it. We have no hope in making finals this year. It's done."

       That Thursday (our last practice before our competition), the realization finally set in. The fact that we were competing to keep our ranks and to be the best finally hit people. We had a wonderful practice, yet it seemed that it was still too late and we wouldn't do well on Saturday. Come the competition, people tried their best, and we had an amazing run. Sitting in the stands waiting to hear whether or not we made finals was agonizing. Sure enough, we made it. People jumped up and screamed, I even cried out of happiness. 

       After out finals performance, we waited to hear our placement. We stood there as they called out 10th place, then 9th, then 8th, and so on. When they were done, we jumped with joy (not literally). We had placed 7th place and 1st in our division class 4A. Looking at our scores, we moved up one place from last year, but we increased our score by 4 points (a HUGE jump in the band world).  As of October 8, 2011 we are 2 time grand national finalists and class 4A champions.

       My point is, when you sign up for something, please give it your all. Even if you don't like it, try. You don't have to like it, but do it because there ARE people who care. It seemed like no one cared, and some didn't, and they brought the band down. But when those people pulled together and tried for the sake of everyone else, we accomplished a lot. Everyone left that competition feeling amazing. It lit a fire under their butts and now they are more determined than ever. Take up your responsibility as a member of a group and give it your all.   

                                                  <3 illya