Obed Khim
It’s 3:00 in the morning on a seemingly random Saturday. But for the Marching Band, it’s the day they have been dedicating hours of their lives into. This year, they have a chance at aiming for top 3 in states with only a 2 point difference between their current 4th place and 2nd place.
Every competition, junior Amelia Gibson and the team rush to the bus, now on their way to compete in a new field.
“We’d get to the school at 9-10 Am to do two hours of practice. Then we have to do an hour and a half off for lunch. Then we sit in the band room and get a pep talk for Mr. Miller, but we never remember it, because we all run out to the bus,” Amelia said.
The band placed first two times before they went to states, breaking any previous records in the band’s history, and suddenly, they could aim for a place they were never able to reach before.
“This season was amazing, like, just, everything about it, it was more of a put together show than last year,” senior Koby Demaray said.
With freshmen joining the season and help from a new director, the band was able to push themselves this season and polish their show in every competition leading up to the finals.
“Everyone’s putting in a lot more effort than they were last year. And there’s a lot more passion in the group as a whole because we have someone who made the body work and the drill for the music and combines all of it for us and basically makes it what we want it to be in the best it can be for us,” senior Gavin Vasquez said.
In addition, to help from their directors, their section leaders have been tantamount to their growth in the team as a whole.
“She pushed me to be my best, even when I felt like it was the hardest thing in the world, and I did not want to continue on, because there’s a big challenge. But she pushed me and showed me how I actually truly was good,” sophomore Ava Demaray said.
Furthermore, the show itself had light and airy music, contrary to the dark themes in previous years. As a result, it was much more exciting for the team to put in the work to perform their best while having fun with the musical piece.
Overall, the months of dedication and hard work for finals paid off. On the day of the competition at Ford Field, the team performed flawlessly and received recognition for their hard work and creativity by the judges. They had not only shattered records, but also made history as the best season in the school’s history.