Drum major, senior Pasha Ryutov
“I’d say, for me, I didn’t really have a lot to connect with other people. And so music in particular was kind of like one big social point for me. It allowed me to connect with some of my best friends. Entering ninth grade, I was really nervous initially, but the community is just so amazing. We’re all super nice to each other. We’ll make mean jokes, but it’s always light-hearted and fun.”
Color guard, junior Romeo Canes
“I remember during band camp, our coach [Alex Stenseth] encouraged us to make friends with the band kids. She was like, you have to make friends with at least one person a day. You have to tell me about them because these people are going to be your biggest supporters. And she was right.”
Flutist, junior Diana Colón
“[Marching band is] sort of like the dog sitting in a burning building while saying ‘this is fine,’ but like in a good way. So it’s kind of chaotic, but it’s the good kind of chaotic because like you can be chaotic and everyone else is chaotic. And you sort of fit in.”
Clarinetist, sophomore Sean Alfaro
“I think a lot of people don’t realize that being a band kid or being whatever we want to say, isn’t all just about playing your instruments, and trying to be the best. A lot of people think it’s like, ‘Oh, first chair, I want to be really good and do the best I can.’ But I think a lot of it is that going to marching band competitions and practices and rehearsals are just so fun, because it’s the same people every day and it’s just so much time put into it that I feel like [I have known] these people for so long.”
