With the seniors in band graduating soon, they are leaving more than just the campus. They are leaving the community they created within the classroom, their friendships and their legacy and advice to the underclassmen. The band community has left an impact on the seniors in those classes.
Seniors in band shared the impact band had on them. Senior and drumline member Christopher Buhac enjoyed his band experience and the environment in the classroom.
“I mean, it’s just a place for not only me, but for everyone to just come to and be accepted,” Buhac said.
Band has been a place where the members can come together and enjoy each other’s company, as well as a feeling of belonging. Senior and drumline member Dylan Burks values the connections he’s made with the other members and how open and understanding the community is.
“All these people, who I call friends, they really bring me up whenever I’m down. And they’re always a joy to be around, cause they always like understand you and they’re always real to you,” Burks said.
Band is a timely commitment as well, as it takes time and patience for the band to succeed as a whole.
“You can’t go into band with a closed mindset, saying ‘Oh, only nerds join band’ or it would be easy or too hard, you just gotta go in with an open mind and just try your best,” Burks said.
The seniors in band have been a big part of the community created in the classroom because they were open to what the band program had in store for them. Senior Christian Rosatty encourages students who want to join band to do their best because of the possibility of creating memories with other members.
Because of this, band can be seen as difficult for many kids, so Nathaniel Mori encourages kids to keep going, even if they feel they can’t.
“My advice for someone who wants to join band, it’s going to sound very cliché, but don’t give up. A lot of kids who join marching band quit after the first year or after the first summer training,” Mori said.
Band can be a place for students to be themselves and create new relationships within the environment they have created. Senior Allison Choi wishes she could have created more in the community.
“I would try to get to know the other members more, because I know a couple of them a little bit, but I would maybe try to be more open and try to understand them. Or meet others, that, I think, I would change,” Choi said.
As these seniors leave their mark in high school and in band, their advice and legacy will impact the incoming band members and the new community they will create.
