Competition Day
The day was Saturday, November 6th, 2010. The day that would mark the closing of my freshman year in marching band at DeWitt High School. The day that would show off all of the hard work that we put in all season long. That was the day the members of the DeWitt High School marching band would take the field at states. The Michigan Competing Band Association hosts the state competition every year at Ford Field, home to the Detroit Lions. We boarded the busses and made the trip to Detroit. I got off the bus and put my blue and gold uniform on. I then proceeded to the trailer where our instruments were held, grabbed my clarinet and started to warm up. We walked the streets, where we found the entrance of the locker room we would have our pre-performance pep talk with our band directors. We shook the pre-performance jitters, rocked the performance, and then watched all eleven of the other bands perform while we patiently waited for the results. Then the time came to announce the results.
I was sitting in the rigid plastic seats of the stadium along with the other band members. The announcer came over the loud speaker and read a thank you note to everyone who contributed to the success of the event. The nerves began to set in. My breath slowed and beads of sweat began to roll down my pale face. The announcer started from twelfth place and worked her way up. After every time a band was announced the drum majors had to step forward, and perform a salute, unique only to their band. The salutes were usually intricate and involved a lot of movement. The movements can range from head movements down to full body movements. Every place she announced, I felt more and more relieved as that