Maelene Tacata's Personal Odyssey

Trust me when I say band takes up a lot of time. It's tough but in the end, it is worth it. You meet a lot of new people, make friends, and experience so many great things. The first semester is basically marching season. During marching season, I was in colorguard. Not a lot of people know what colorguard is. Well, if you've ever been to a football game, in the half time shows, they're the ones that march with band and dance around with a flag. Colorguard takes patience and practice because it's not definitely not easy. Marching band doesn't just perform in half time shows but they also go to competitions. Competitions are really fun. You get to see other bands perform and you get perform yourself. My favorite competition was the Desoto Competition because I met a few other people from different bands and it was really exciting. Although we only made 7th place in Desoto (I think. I can't quite remember exactly), it's never about making first place but it's always about doing your best. The second semester is basically concert band. The most important event for concert band is UIL. Concert band doesn't require as much morning rehearsals as marching band does, but it still requires practice. In UIL, we received a one and 2 two's on stage and for sighting reading, we received straight two's. These aren't the greatest scores but we did our best and our best is enough. Band is tough and even tiring, but I love it anyway! It's a part of who I am and it's a wonderful experience. Even though people call me a "band nerd," I don't mind because I have pride in being band.

What is pride?
"110% dedication, motivation, self-discipline, sir!"