If you are connected to the world of college band, you’ve likely heard about the whole Vanderbilt Halftime Homecoming ordeal. (Even though I go to Lipscomb, I am in the color guard of the Vanderbilt Spirit of Gold Marching Band.) The ordeal has been resolved, hallelujah, and we are going to perform our halftime show! But even though we sometimes have struggles, I still love my band family. Here are just a few reasons why band is #lit.

1. When we struggle, we struggle together.

Band camp is a sweaty, hot, tiring mess, but it is where the strongest of friendships are formed. You work your tail off to make a field show, and the common goal and struggle unites like no other. No one ever wants to be hit in the head with a stray flag, but having your friends there to commiserate (and laugh) with you makes it all worth it.

2. The music makes your heart soar (which is really hard to convey in a picture).

Be it Phantom of the Opera, This Is Berk, or Don’t Stop Believin’, marching band music is unlike any other. The blaring brass instruments, the beating of the drums, and the beautiful sounds of the woodwinds only cover part of it. The pit could probably play as its own separate entity, but it just sounds beautiful with the band. Plus, there is something so satisfying about doing a magnificent toss to a climactic moment in the music. It’s glorious (at least it is when I catch it).

3. It's a place of comfort and familiarity.

School can be hectic with never knowing what to expect and always feeling stressed. Family issues always like to rear their ugly head. But amidst all that, band is a place where you know you belong, and that will never change. The band room is practically your second home anyway. Band is what we do, and it’s what we’re good at. Perhaps we can’t integrate some fancy equation littered with square roots, but we can play our hearts out. Even if we can’t seem to grasp the entire history of the world, with enough time and effort, we can experience that satisfying snap of our rifle straps as we catch a toss together.

Marching Band is a struggle, but we do it anyway. Why? Because we love it. We may not get all the glam and the glory, but our band fam is worth way more than that.