CDSM #9: Playing music loudly and making shapes with my body.

A month or two before I graduated from high school last year, I started thinking about what I wanted to do during college.  The past four years were filled with musical theatre, academic league, and of course, LOTS OF HOMEWORK.  One thing I always wanted to do but never got the chance to, was marching band.  So right then and there I decided that during the summer I was going to learn an instrument and try out for the UCLA band.  

The day after graduation, I picked up a trombone (it has a slide, how could I not?) and got to work.  Two months later, I sent in an audition tape and was fortunate enough to be accepted.

Since then, life has been pretty fantastic.  Although marching and practicing for 10 hours a day during band camp was grueling, and having 7am call times for football games was not too much fun, it is one of the best decisions I've ever made.  Finding an immediate group of awesome people who eventually became my good friends and advisors made freshmen year suddenly less intimidating.  The first few weeks were pretty difficult, learning marching drills and memorizing music while still trying to excel at basic trombone skills, but as time went by, things started clicking.  I got to play at all sorts of school events, not just sports, and was also given the opportunity to travel for free, going to NorCal twice, Columbus, OH, and Seattle, WA.  

It's an odd activity, who thought that running around a field while playing a wind instrument was a good idea anyway?  It's also a very American thing, every time I see a band, images of eagles, stars and stripes, and fireworks instantly come to mind.  But it's quite exhilarating, running onto the field with your fellow bandmates (around 260 of them), feeling the audience get so excited and absorbing the energy, then playing your school's fight song and feeling a strong sense of pride.  It's a tradition filled with passion, camaraderie, and good spirits, and I am so incredibly happy that I get the chance to be part of it.  Go Bruins!

Pre-Game Show

Ending of our Queen Show (we beat our rivals USC that day and it was glorious)