Dear Band,

I didn't know that my life would be changed as much as it is now than when I was first handed my instrument years ago. I was so excited to start playing, and I thought I'd be good at it in no time. I was wrong. I quickly realized that I would need to practice more than I first thought. I remember all of the frustration I got from you. I just couldn't get my fingers to move the way I knew they needed to, I couldn't play that note that was higher up on the staff, and I couldn't read the music as fast as I wanted to. There would be many times in the after school hours that I would want to put my instrument away for good. I would always say to myself, "I must not be cut out for this. Why is everyone better than me?" I would be on the verge of tears at that moment. When in band class with other people in my grade in the following weeks, I could see that they too were struggling much like me. That's when I realized that comparing myself to the people who have been playing longer than I was a terrible idea. With time and a lot of practice, I got better. I could move my fingers the way I needed to, I could play that note higher on the staff and I could even read the music a bit faster than before. I was so happy that all of my hard work had paid off. I didn't think I needed to get any better. I was good enough. But you proved me wrong.

At the end of eighth grade, I was introduced to the idea of marching band. Yeah, I had been to football games before and watched bands play at halftime, but I wasn't sure if I wanted to do that. I gave it a shot and loved it - mostly. It was much more of a challenge for me. Not only did I have to play good, but I had to memorize music and move around a football field while playing that music. Never have I known the importance of water until band camp, where I began learning how to do six things at once. By the end of band camp, I had things down pretty good and was confident that marching band was indeed for me. I was good enough now, right? Again, you proved me wrong.

After school had started my freshman year, you introduced me to a different kind of band: jazz band. I hadn't heard much about Jazz band before, so naturally I let my growing interest in band lead me to this new band experience, and almost as soon as I started playing jazz music, it became one of my favorites still to this day. High school introduced me to all sorts of musical ensembles and I vowed to continue playing music into college and beyond.

Because of you, Band, I have met some of the greatest people I know today. Our common interest in music has sparked friendships that will last a lifetime. You have inspired me to mentor younger players, who I see so much of myself in. Their desires to want to improve only strengthens my desires to want to mentor and shape them into the players I know they can be.

Thank you for everything.