Also pictured here, third from the left, is snare player Matt Harris. You can spot me (and my fro) on the second from the right. It’s the only band photo that I’m in that’s sharp enough for me to recognized clearly. Naturally, he figured I’d be a great prospect to play tri-toms in the high school drum line.ĭRUM LINE - Pictured here with my CPHS “Gold Pride of Proud Country” drum line in 1981, during my sophomore year in high school. CPHS Band Director Gene Osborn had previously come down to the junior high several times to scout our concerts for who he wanted, and he’d been impressed with how well I’d handled playing tympani in the Central Junior High orchestra. Charles Page High School had one of the most award-winning bands in the state, and I was looking forward to taking the field with them. When the time came at last to graduate from junior high, I wasĪnxious to move up. I might never become a rock-star player, but I knew I could be good enough to satisfy an I found myself torn between my ambitions and my reality, but ultimately had to make peace with my limits. Bandmates sometimes accused me of not caring, or not applying myself hard enough, but none of them knew the struggles I was enduring to be able to play at all. Hours and hours of practice failed to improve my co-ordination, and sometimes my hands would begin to shake so badly that it was an effort to even stay on beat. My hands would cramp badly if I held the sticks for more than a few minutes at a time. All of it had been helpful and informative, but along the way I’d also made a disheartening discovery about myself. I’d learned how to take criticism about what I was doing, and how to be responsive to feedback. I’d learned how to keep in step, to play with others, and to have the discipline to practice even when I wasn’t always enjoying myself. In junior high I’d learned all the essentials ofīeing part of a marching band. My thoughts are on whether or not another year will be worth it. For every year since elementary school, I’ve had band as an elective, and I’ve never had any hesitation in ticking the box for it. My second elective choice is a little harder to make. Schaub has gone out of her way to encourage my writing, and to see that I submit for the monthly statewide journalism awards. More than that, the advisor of the program is like a second mother to me. Journalism is an automatic choice because I love the program, and I’ve already been promised the editorship of the school magazine next year. Requirements, but I still need to pick my electives. I’m going over the enrollment form for my final year, and I’ve ticked all the boxes for my general education By the close of my junior year in high school,
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