Student Life

About Student Life

The Student Life team serves as the main connection between students and leadership. Their roles include taking suggestions to improve the program, organizing social events, and offering personal help or guidance to any band or guard member. The Student Life team also offers tutoring for those who need it, and coordinates bus seating lists for events.

For new students unsure of what instrument they would like to play, please contact Directors of Student Life for assistance. For students who have already chosen their instrument, please contact the corresponding Section Leader. Check the Sections tab for contact information.

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Six Things I Wished Someone Had Told Me About Marching Season

by Paola G. (Alumni)

1. It took me awhile to figure out what marching season meant. It’s what we call the period from August to November where we are dedicated solely to marching. We learn a field show (a 10 minute show consisting of about 4 songs accompanied with synchronized choreography on the football field) and a march (basically, a traditional style marching song that we perform while marching down the streets in precision). For 3 months that’s all we do, we learn the music and perfect it. We learn the marching and perfect it. We do it over and over to get it just right, as close to perfection as possible. While these routines are used at football games, band competitions are what we train for. Marching season is the opposite of concert season; there, no marching is involved, only music, and that lasts from December until the end of the year.

2. Practice truly does make perfect. I, like most, had never learned how to play an instrument before joining band. The only way that you can be on par with more experienced musicians is by practice. Do not underestimate what 30 minutes every day can do for your skill level. Think of practice as homework for a class, you will get so much more out of the program if you practice. The same rule applies to marching. During marching season we have practice every Tuesday and Thursday every day until 5 and once a month we have special 5-6 hour practices on Saturdays. It may seem like a lot at first but with 100+ students and so many things to learn, you’ll see its not nearly enough. Every hour is valuable. And when we nail our field show after practicing it dozens of time, you will find how worth it it all was. The sense of accomplishment once you master a song is like no other.

3. Band competitions exist. I’d never heard of this, perhaps because marching band isn’t well known, yet competitions are serious stuff. Bands from all over the county go to these competitions where we perform our field shows and our street marches in front of judges. They give us points for what we do right and take away points for things we do wrong, the highest score being 100. The judges assess both the quality of the music we are playing and the precision of our marching. There are separate judges for percussion and colorguard, but that’s a bit more complicated. Once the judges have scored all field shows and street marches we have an awards ceremony where the top bands are awarded trophies. There are different categories you can be awarded in and we are separated into groups according to the size of our band (because bigger bands have an unfair advantage when it comes to things like sound quality). There are usually separate award shows for street marches and field shows and we attend about 6 different competitions throughout the season and each is more or less the same. Some are only street marching, and some are only field show. Both are still very competitive and fun.

4. What a day in the life of a band competition is like: These days are pretty crazy, and tiring. You will end up completely drained after it, but with the right attitude you’ll still have a blast. The best part of competition is spending a day out with all your bandmates its like one really long field trip.The competitions are usually on Saturdays and we get to school early in the morning (for one competition we meet up at like 5 in the morning!) and then we hop on about 3 buses to travel one or two hours to wherever we’re going. The day is usually long and hot. When Mabrey tells you to keep hydrated, he’s serious. Hot sun and black wool do not mix well. You will sweat, which leads to stinky buses. Most of your time is spent warming up. The closer you get to the competition the more your heart starts pounding. And in that moment when the judges say “Olympian, the judges are ready”, your heart stops. Then the show starts and you begin what you have practiced literally a hundred times, and you pray you don’t make a mistake but it’s worth it when you hear the audience cheers. Here in the Olympian band our goal is for our show to be as entertaining as possible; it’s what makes us unique. The rush you get when you hear the audience truly enjoying the performance and all the details we put it in is indescribable. That’s when I start to get into more into the music and begin to actually enjoy the performance. For a minute I don’t even care about the score, all I want is for the audience to enjoy it. Of course what the judges think is what matters. Finally comes the award ceremonies,we sit together in the football stadium doing school cheers and anxiously wait for our score. When our school is called, for whatever category, there is a deafening roar of yells as we all stand up and cheer as the drum major or colorguard captain accepts these trophies. That moment is my favorite part of all of marching season.

5. The camaraderie you feel with the whole band as we triumphantly walk back to the buses ready for a well-deserved nap on the way home is something that you have to live to fully understand. Even if we didn’t win a single prize, which happens, rarely do we walk defeated. There is always an accomplishment to celebrate, whether it be a positive reaction from the audience or a day where we truly worked together as a team. There is always something that we as a band make sure to feel good about. It’s what makes the long hours of practice, the tedious repetitions, the sweat and the tears all worth it. At the end of the day we are a family of performers who receive no greater pleasure than knowing that we did our absolute best and received the best score we could have received.

6. Band is tons and tons of fun. Although it does take some serious dedication, there are many moments in band where we just laugh and make the most of our time. In this group of 100+ students you are bound to find a group of friends who have similar likes and interests. Our band director, Mr. Mabrey, is the king of bad jokes and puns, so we’re always laughing at, I mean with him. We’re really all just a big band of goofballs who enjoy making music, hanging out in the bandroom, and messing around in the stands at football games. When I joined band I wished someone had told me that not only was I joining a phenomenal music program under the best director, but also that I’d be having the time of my life performing with a group of awesome people that I’ve come to consider my second family.