I grew up on the football field. My mother was the majorette director at one of the local schools in my town, so from the time I was a wee tot to when I started kindergarten, I was at almost every football game. I was that little kid that would be chasing batons down on the field during a half time show. Since those days, I knew I wanted to be in band. When sixth grade rolled around, I literally begged my parents to let me join band. My best friend and I agreed that we would both join so we would have another class together. I also begged to play the saxophone, but (and that's a big but) my mother said these words to me: "If you complain about carrying your dance bag, you're going to complain about carrying a saxophone." I remember standing in my grandparent's kitchen when I was told this. That was almost ten years ago. Needless to say, I did not end up playing saxophone, but I did end up playing flute... temporarily. Within about a month into beginner band, I started begging to play the oboe. Why? I had no idea. And I still have no idea. I made the switch to the oboe my eighth grade year, and now, as a junior in college, I'm the only oboist in ORU's band and orchestra. I love my oboe,but I also hate my oboe. It is the bane of my existence, but I don't regret playing it one bit. My oboe is part of who I am and so is band.

When I joined band almost ten years ago, I never thought that it would play a major role in my life (literally a major role, since I'm majoring in Music Education). I met a family that can never be replaced. My forever friends found me during those seven years of high school band. I spent many days crying during class, during ball games, at competitions, at concerts and probably any other location that had to do with band. Graduating high school kind of sucked because it meant leaving my band family. When I made the transition to college band, I was nervous because I knew it wouldn't be the same; however, on one of my first days of freshmen orientation, I met someone in the cafeteria who was in band as well. This person is now one of my best friends. As the first semester continued on, the friendships just began to flourish and multiply. I still love my high school band family, but my little circle of seven at ORU are the best friends a person could ask for. If it wasn't for band, these friendships would not have happened.

My circle of friends are so unique and caring, and I love them all so much. We each have our strengths and weaknesses. We argue... a lot. We had to create a list of commandments in our group chat just to prevent all of our arguing. There's been many mornings where we get up earlier than normal just to eat breakfast together. We probably spend way too many hours a day in Saga (our school cafeteria) just because we are having so much fun together. We have even claimed a table that no one else dares to sit at because we are there. And each person in my circle knows that I sit in the center seat, facing the door. There's constant laughter -- many times to the point of tears. There's homework gatherings, movie nights, ice cream nights and so much more. We are each so supportive of each other, too. We will help each other fundraise for missions, we will pray for one another, we will let each other use our cars and sometimes (most times), the guys have sleepovers in EMR (their boys-only dorms). Sometimes we don't always hang out together, or some of us will hang out in different groups but that's okay. I could go on and on about my circle of friends. They are the absolute best and I'll leave it at that.

If it wasn't for band, I wouldn't have met these amazing people. We all share a passion for music and Jesus and that's what brings us together. Most of us have been apart for over a month now, and now that everyone has returned from being overseas for a month, our group chat is alive and all is well in life.

Mickayla, Crystal, Brandon, Nathan, Isaiah and Matt: Thank you for dealing with my sass on a daily basis. Thank you for being my friend. Thank you for the comforting words when I'm down. Thank you for the memes, GIFs, and snapchats. You guys never fail to brighten my day. Thank you all for loving me for me. You all are the best!