This year. This year will be different. The percussion section of our marching band is the best it’s ever been. There’s no way we can lose. We’ve been practicing all summer and I have complete trust that everyone will do their parts. We have talented people that love doing what we do. The competitions are always exhilarating. “This band is going places.” That’s what we’ve heard all year. I believe it. I love band. Music is a part of my life that can never be replaced and it gives me the motivation to do well in school in order to go to college where I want to be part of their music programs.

Yes, this year will be different. I have never been a very good time-managing student. But, I’ve gotten better and this year will be different. I have to stay confident because my schedule this year is rigorous. If I think for even a fraction of a second that I can’t do something, I won’t be able to do it. I wish I weren’t like that. Everyone else seems so confident in their futures, they are all much more organized and they are focused on their tasks. I don’t have that kind of focus in education. The only place I have that much focus is behind my instruments.
Playing music helps me calm down and take a break from the world to really enjoy life. It gives me a challenge. If I hear something incredible done by an arranger, I immediately take it upon myself to learn it. I struggle taking this determination and applying it elsewhere in life. Sometimes I feel as if the strain and pressure for me to do well academically will break me.
Our band is incredible. We work together amazingly and we blend our sound to make it more full. October 30, 2015. Our state Championships in St. George. We worked ourselves to death in preparation for this. We perform our show and we feel amazing. But, then again we always feel amazing about our shows. The awards ceremony comes.
My calculus class is incredible. We help each other out whenever we can. But, unlike our band, I am a weak link. I struggle to understand concepts and despite all the help I seek I struggle to retain the details to succeed to my fullest capacity. The day of the test. My final test for this section. I’ve worked all month for this. I take the test the best I can. I actually feel good about this one! Then the grading time comes. Unlike our band, the results usually disappoint me. I sit with dread as my teacher passes back papers.
  The announcer goes through all of the awards. This time is different. Fremont gets music and color-guard captions. He announces Herriman gets Visual Caption, but then… what came next was a metaphorical drumstick hitting us in the face.
“And the award for percussion caption goes to…”
time stood still. Not only did an eternity go by in that half a second but so did my will to hold still even though we were still at attention.
“Herriman High School!”
We all look at each other. Every percussionist breaks attention to look at each other we hug and yell and scream and hug some more. We can’t believe what just happened. We look down at our band director expecting her to be mad at us for moving around but she let’s it slide. We earned this. We earned taking percussion caption at state and we earned cheering and hugging and jumping up and down.
This was the moment I was most proud in my band experience. After an entire year of working, my section took first place at the state level.
He puts my paper on my desk upside down. I sink my head. The upside down paper generally means you didn’t do well. But then he says something that made my heart skip a beat. “Good job daniel.” My eyes shoot wide. A moment ago I couldn’t bear to look at my results but now I can’t look quick enough. I turn over the paper on my desk and look with utter disbelief and shock at the big red “100%” sitting at the top of my paper! I am ecstatic. I can’t believe my eyes. I finally got a good score on my first try of a test. Not only was it good, but it was perfect! This is the moment I was most proud of in that class.
This year was different. My success in and out of the classroom motivated me even more to push myself to raise my bar in music, and in school. Senior year… Here I come!