Two blogs in one day. This is what I did for my college essay. I just barely got it short enough to the exact word length.
Coming into my freshman year, I was a very scared kid. I had grown up religious, but due to several factors, I was starting to break away from it. I didn't really have any good friends; my best friend, Isaac, had moved away in the 7th grade, and my other closest friend was possessive and wouldn't let me have other friends. The only reason I was in band in the first place was because Isaac asked me to join the class, and I really liked being around him, so I did, and in middle school, it was fun, but not something that I would write a college essay about. Joining marching band was like getting woken up with a bucket of water.
I showed up to the icebreaker night at the end of my 8th grade year, and I was overwhelmed by how excited these high school teenagers were to meet me, and I didn't really understand why. Even when I went to the summer practices, and I felt more loved and accepted by a community of peers, I still didn't get it. But then it became the end of marching season, and it was the night when the seniors gave their speeches. They talked about how much marching band changed and shaped them, how they became better people through marching band, and I realized then that's why they were so excited to meet me; they wanted to share what had affected them so much with other people. A group of people that deeply care about each other and what they do, and a teacher that drives them to be better.
Mr. Black, the band director, has a lot of things he likes to say, some of them are inspirational, some are funny, and some of them are frustrating in the moment. When asked questions he can't answer, "figure it out." That's frustrating to hear, but I've learned that most times, I'm able to figure it out myself, and that doing so gives a sense of satisfaction. But the most impactful thing he's ever said is a quote from someone else (Dr. Wayne Dyer), "when you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change." Really he meant that in reference to practice, how practice doesn't have to be something you dread, but something you enjoy. Now it means a lot more to me.
Throughout high school I made a lot of decisions, ones that helped me and ones that hurt me. I quit engineering, joined theater, spent time wallowing in self-pity, made friends, and lost friends. But through all of that, I had the band. When I felt hopeless, I could simply choose to remember that there are kind, genuine people in the world. All I had to do was change the way I looked at things for the world to be full of hope again. Then suddenly it was October 29th, and it's time to give my senior speech. Now I was the one expressing how marching band changed me. and instead of talking about my story or thanking all my friends individually, I chose to talk about the greatest lesson I ever learned, the freedom of being alive.
It was marching band that taught me that my choices are what matter in life. It was Mr. Black that taught me that I can change the things I look at. It was marching band where I saw what can happen when a group of people choose to make something great. I know that I will die someday and I don't know what will happen after, but I don't care, because it doesn't matter to me. It's your freedom and choices that matter. I want to be a teacher so that I can teach people that same thing. That when you change the way you look at things, the things you look at do change.
- Basil
