Leadership: North Carolina State Drumline

While most of my hobbies have included some form of engineering, I am also heavily involved in the musical arts. I started band in middle school in the percussion section, but it wasn’t until high school that this passion really took off. I regularly practiced several hours a day at the marching snare drum in order to improve musically. I made it a goal to march a “World-Class” Drum and Bugle Corps in Drum Corps International, which is a highly competitive activity in which Drum Corps practice up to 14 hours a day, all summer long, while touring the country and performing their show almost daily. I eventually succeeded in this goal by marching in The Academy Drum and Bugle Corps in 2013. The Academy is based out of Tempe, Arizona, and during our “move-in” practice period, we would regularly practice an extremely physically demanding show in up to 120 ᴼF temperatures all day long. While this was physically and mentally demanding to do day in and day out, it helped me grow both musically and mentally throughout the summer.

While marching in a World-Class ensemble was a lot of fun for me, I also enjoyed drumming at the collegiate level. I was a member in the NC State Drumline from 2012-2014 (Section leader 2013-2014, Drum Captain 2014),and assisted in instructing the drumline for the 2015 season. Using the drumming and mental skillset I have obtained from being active in the drum corps activity, I was able to help raise the standard of excellence within the NC State drumline to a much higher level than what it was when I first became involved in the drumline. One of the most important aspects of being in a college drumline is that it has to be a fun activity for college students to use to get away from the school work and enjoy themselves, and I believe that I was able to raise the standard of musical excellence, while members were still able to enjoy themselves as a part of the ensemble.