14 hour days in 102 degrees, with few water breaks and high stress. This is what is called “Hell Week” among the UCA Bear Marching Band (or BMB for short). They all come to school before anyone else is even allowed to move in and they work. They spend hours working to perfect the music and the drill, lining up each count over and over again.

What the band does is no joke. Too many times kids sit out because of exhaustion and dehydration. Everyone is held accountable for learning the music on their own, memorizing it and perfecting it. It is a strenuous week that only continues once classes are in session.

With an average of two and a half hours spent in rehearsal three times a week, and game day rehearsals that lead up to the game itself these students are only rewarded for their efforts with one credit hour. Spending up to 13 or 14 hours per week if there is a game just to be rewarded with one credit hour and a small scholarship.

Because of the costs outweighing the reward so greatly, these students are not a force to be reckoned with. They are passionate and motivated. They want to be there because they love the music, the people, or the experience that marching band provides them. They give blood, sweat, and usually tears for the entertainment of the men, women and children in the crowd on Saturday nights.

But the love and effort for music doesn’t stop once the game is over. After each and every home game, if you wait long enough, you can hear the band sing. They stop, put down their instruments and sing the Alma Mater with such passion that many onlookers gape their mouths and wipe their eyes. There is not a single band kid that is not proud of this moment, and there is not a single person who respects the band that isn’t proud for them.

When people who have never been in marching band think about marching band, they usually think of nerds. They think of the kids who could never make friends because they were either socially awkward or just incapable of maintaining social interaction. In this college band, that just isn’t true. These students are putting their love of band and love of music on top of their other majors, and social lives. They are having to miss out on extra work hours, or having to do their homework at 1a.m. instead of earlier in the day, and it’s because they want to. It’s because they are passionate about the band and what the band stands for.

Next time you see the band practicing, or performing, stop and watch. Watch and respect their drive and passion. Respect the amount of sweat that is pouring down their backs and the exhaustion behind their eyes. A lot more goes into the marching band than just walking with an instrument and people forget that. Marching band is discipline, both of the self and of others. It is a passion and a hobby. It is a lifestyle and a full-time job. It might be called the football field, but the band is pouring just as much love into that grass as any other football team.