Bus ride up to Fresno was alright. Nothin' much happened. At one of our stops, we walked to a Wendy's. As we turned to look at an old motel, Kevin found live ammunition. A bullet intact. I wonder what he did with that.
Arriving at the prelims, I found myself walking about mindind my own business. Popple came from Pennsylvania to see us perform. It was nice meeting him. He had been in the baritone section in recent years. He said that his band in Penn. sucked compared to us. sweatdrop I didn't like my run in the prelim. performance, but everyone like it. We received a standing ovation and the instructors were proud. They said they would look forward to finals because Mission has the rep. of always outdoing our prelim. show.
That night we slept in a school gym. Surprisingly, I got some good sleep. The next morning, we got up and went to practice at the school's field.
Our last warm-up.
Now that I think back, it meant a lot to me. Really good run through that morning.
We arrived for finals and prepared for the show. Our last stretching block, our last warm-up block; sorry for the lack of details, but it's a weird sort of memory. We stood in our brass arc and blew away the onlookers. Our director, Mr. Hannan, walked over to his son in the baritone section (Eric was standing next to me) and gave him a hug, for it was his son's last year in the band. Father and son together.
As Mr. Hannan walked away, Kaitlin asked Eric,"Is he crying?"
Eric replied,"In all my life, I have never seen him cry."
The band moms told us they were proud and that we give a great performance.
Walking in our brass and woodwind lines to the field, I saw Logan highschool's colorguard. They seemed like they were half the size of our entire band. I'd just like to say that our colorguard uniforms were really nice this year. They were easy on the eye and didn't have creepy colors.
The preformance.
I kept blowing warm air into my baritone. Everyone was set. It was time to put on the best show that had ever been performed. All I could think was: This is finals. This is finals. Being in those blocks and curvalinears was the most amazing experience to be had. The lights, the sound, and the motion of an entire band depending on each individual. I played it all and marched with conviction. The last note, full and majestic, with the feeling of all. The horns slowly went down. With the sound of the drum beats we were off the field.
We gathered on the field next to the stadium and waited to hear from the instructors. ... Sometime later their was a group hug on Chris. Yay.
Another instructor John joined the baritones is a group circle, arms on each other's shoulders. He told us we were the best higschool baritone section he had ever heard. That the freshman were the best we've ever had. My eyes watered and I was so glad to be a part of this section.
Wootah for being Kaitlin's adopted asian baby.
John pointed at me and said that everyday I had the weirdest clothes he had ever seen. The other Katylin said "Yeah Twinny!" *highfive* "Twinny!" John replied," I think that's the first time I've ever heard you speak." Probably true. Another instructor, Rich, tried to get in on the action, but John wouldn't let him. xd He left, then came back and kicked John. John said that he probably had been drinking. Bryan, our section leader, said he would pay for us to go to BJ's. 3nodding
We ended with a "One shot, one kill."
Announcer:"An the winner for best visual is... Logan Highschool!... wait... I made a mistake... The winner for best visual is Mission Viejo Highschool!"
-Best Burn Eva'-
Senior Circle was intense.
Blasting out our hearts for our beloved seniors.
What really got to me was when the baritones played our feature song
"What is Love".
We began and I had the priviledge of joining in, now that I had earned it through my first year. I played the low part along with Kaitlin G. and the Euphs. John and others played the higher part and finally Bryan came in playing the lead part. That's what finally got me. The tears just came out from within. They were warm tears of love and sadness. I kept on playing as best I could. That was everything to me, my bartone section and what they meant to me. Togther we had lived though the pain and worked to achieve our goal. Bryan backed out of playing leaving the rest of us. Then the high part back out, and it was just Kaity, the Euphs, and I playing the low part until we came to an end. The baritone section would never be the same. People were hugging and Kaity was crying into Bryan shoulder, as many did. I waited and did the same (I'm watering up thinking of it now), I hugged Bryan, my face into his shoulder saying,"Thanks for being such a great leader for us."
He replied, "Thanks for being a great freshman."
And we parted.
(Brought me to tears just writing about it. Sorry)
Time of change.
Marching band has shaped so much of what I am now. The season will soon be over and I'll have to wait till next year to get ready for whatever comes next. I've gotten a taste of it and I don't know if I can ever leave it. It's something I will hold from here on forward. The experiences, the people, and the feelings.
What now? I can only say that a person can mean more than they know to someone else. The journey and the people you meet along the way are the greatest reward.
Community Member
But I'm glad to hear that it went so well. May you remember that feeling whenever you feel blue- and remember that the universe is on your side. You just have to do the butt-kickin exclaim