Someone_Special

He’s gone now. I won’t have him to help me get through the hard times and push me to go beyond what I think I’m capable of. He is my leader and friend. I will never forget all the screaming, pushing, and criticism that came from him and how his hurtful words helped me see the truth. Those same words drove me to do what I felt was beyond my reach. Now its 2012, I’m as tough as nails and I’m reaching further than I’d ever imagine. It was 2009, band camp had just begun and it was my first year in High School. I was a nervous freshman and I really hoped to get a spot on the drumline. As I walked into the band hall I saw that it was enormous, a lot larger than the one I was use to in middle school. Looking lost and not knowing where to go, a student directed me to the percussion room he was kind of short, maybe an inch or two below the average height of the Mexican man. His head was large for his body which was tanned and thin like he had been outside all summer. He walked like he owned the place so I figured he was an upper classman, maybe a junior or a senior. His name was David and when he opened the door to the room a gush of freezing air hit my body making me rub my arms for warmth. David told me to just wait around the room and the teacher would be in soon. There was a group of boys gathered around a desk and David went to them and they started talking and laughing. A couple guys that I knew from my middle school were sitting down on the floor against some drums, so I went over and sat next to them. I could hear the guys talking to David, they were saying, “Hey dude how was it over there during the summer' Did you perform anywhere cool' Is drum core as hard as people say it is'” Since I was confused because I didn’t know what drum core was, I just let it go and I didn’t bother asking questions. Our teacher Mr. Henry eventually came in and we had a mini audition for a tenor spot on the drumline. I was very confident in the way I played, but I was having doubts about continuing band, so I didn’t show up the next day. When I went back, I found out that I did get the tenor spot, but because I didn’t go I lost my spot and it was given to the next person in line. I was really mad and disappointed in myself and I really didn’t think band was going to be fun anymore because I wasn’t going to be on the drumline. Later that day I was assigned a marimba part and it had four mallets in it. I had never really played keyboards and now I was expected to play with four mallets at once! In my mind I thought I was never going to be able to play the music; I barely knew which key was which. Completely freaked out, David took me aside and with some help from his friend Steve they taught me how to hold and play four mallets. Band was a struggle and I wanted to get out so many times but David kept telling me that I was a loser and that I would be a quitter if I got out so I stuck around longer and by the time winter came around I was already playing a four mallet solo. I would go on to have a successful marching season, participate in indoor drumline, become a state soloist and lose my teacher that same year. That whole year was crazy and I had some of the best and worst times of my high school years which made me move to a new High School for my sophomore year with David and another girl Marilyn. In May of 2010, I began going to band camp at my new High School with Steve and David. The new school intimidated me, but David told me never to doubt myself and if I was going to move I had better show those percussionists that I could play. When I got thereI was given second marimba and the lead was David’s best friend, Roger. Roger helped me even more with my playing since David was a timpani player and Roger was a very good marimba player. One day after practice in August Roger wondered, “Have you ever thought about joining drum core'” I remembered that word from my freshman year but I still didn’t know what it meant. So I said “no, I don’t even know what drum core is.” “What!' Really' Hasn’t David told you already'” I felt like I should say yes but he didn’t so I explained, “no, I only heard him mention it a couple of times.” Roger’s eyes were wide open and so was his mouth, “drum core is like hard core marching band but without the woodwinds and saxophones. It’s so much more fun than it is here. People know what they’re doing and you’re never just waiting around. Everyone has a higher respect for music and they all play very well and you get to travel around the nation and compete with other drum corps.” With the way Roger described it sounded hard to get into and well I didn’t think I would ever be able to do that it was only my second year. Sure enough David walks in and starts getting into the conversation. “Look Vick I’ve been secretly training you for this, I know I’ve been a butt to you but I only do it to make you better and build up your strength because they will not take it easy on you in drum core. Those teachers are a lot stricter with the music and they will not care about your background. If you make it there then you’re obviously good enough and you’re going to need to hang with these guys that love music maybe even more that you do. Those guys aren’t there to mess around its serious there but it’s also a lot of fun. I want you to audition for Drum Corp in November and you better make it. Your just as good as all those guys and it would be a really good experience for you. Don’t let me down you can’t go and not make it and you are going to go.” I had no choice; I had to go. Roger and David would not get off my back the next three months. Every time I did something wrong they would point it out and yell in my face for it. I would miss a note, not learn my music fast enough, not play with enough emotion, everything I did was wrong if that was how drum core was going to be I knew it wouldn’t make it. As November got closer I prepared my solo from last year as my audition piece and tried to become a better player but I just didn’t feel ready. Those months were hard and it was all for good reason. November finally came around and I was a nervous wreck, I didn’t want to get off of the car. It was an overnight camp from Friday to Sunday and I thought I was so stupid for listening to David and Roger. My parents had already paid the 100 dollar registration fee, so I had to get down because and it was non-refundable. Terrified I walked into the school at Memorial High School and went in to register. Then I placed my bags in the auditorium and followed some signs that showed me to where the front ensemble was. I got acquainted with some of the other guys and as the night went on I felt a lot better because the warm ups that were given to us to learn were the same warm-ups that Roger and David had given me so I already knew what to play. Then they started assigning parts and they gave me the marimba part but I was having such a hard time keeping up with the others I just felt like giving up but that night before lights out David called me to ask me how everything was going and I told him everything and I was so mad at him for making me do that. He basically told me to suck it up and be a man (yes a man), and show them that I am just as good as them. Feeling better the next day, I tried my best and I was able to keep up. At the end of the camp we had show and tell where we show what we learned during the weekend to our family. After that was done my tech Evan told me to come back next camp and he would make his final decision in December. My eyes light up and my smile grew, I was so excited because I had thought that I had done horrible and there I was getting a call back. I called David as I was putting away my instrument and it sounded like he was happy for me but he just started to make me worry a little more because he said that now I really was going to have to step it up because the December camp was going to be harder because that when the techs start getting picky with everything you do. Thinking that the November camp was hard David tells me that December is going to be even harder. I felt like my head was on fire and I couldn’t wait to get some real sleep in my bed. The December camp came around and it wasn’t as hard as David made it seem. That weekend I was busting my butt trying to get myself a spot in the front ensemble I completely forgot about everything else on my mind. Whenever Evan would scream at me it was ok because it wasn’t any worse than how David would act with me. The camp was almost the same as the camp before and after show and tell Bruce came to me and whispered in my ear “welcome aboard mouse, you have a spot in the Drum Corp Front Ensemble.” Turning to him, I hugged and thanked him a million times, I was over filled with happiness and all I could think about was how David and Roger were going to be so proud of me because I made it. I called them and joked with them and told them that I didn’t make it, both of them said that they were sorry and they really hoped that I would try out again next year. They were so excited for me when I told them that I was just joking and that I made it. I also thanked them a million times because if they didn’t believe in me and if they hadn’t pushed me so hard I would have never have gone or made it into Drum Core or any core. It was a challenge having to learn my show music for core and also having to learn my music from school. The music was a hassle, but I was able to make it through and I became a beast at marimba and as soon as July hit I was off on tour around the U.S competing in different states living on a bus. Drum core was so much fun especially the feeling of performing for so many people and hearing their cheers, it’s an indescribable feeling. It made me feel so happy and proud to be in a musical organization. The summer was great and I had some really hard times while I was on the road but the one person I could always count on was just a phone a call away. David helped me through so much that summer I will never be able to repay him for what he did for me. At the end of the summer at our Open Class World Championships in Michigan City, Illinois we received 6th place as a two year core against many other drum corps there that night. It was a great accomplishment and I will never forget that summer and all the people that we apart of it. Saddened, we made the long journey back home and I couldn’t help but think about how much I was going to miss everyone on tour. They became my family and now we were going to be separated and go back home to where it will be like nothing happened. I was able to have a day off before starting band camp and I was back into the same routine again. Except now I was behind three weeks of band camp and there was no David or Roger to help me, I was on my own. He’s gone now. I won’t have him to help me get through the hard times and push me to go beyond what I think I’m capable of. He is my leader and friend. I will never forget all the screaming, pushing, and criticism that came from him and how his hurtful words helped me see the truth. Those same words drove me to do what I felt was beyond my reach. Now its 2012, I’m as tough as nails and I’m reaching further than I’d ever imagine. Now it’s my turn to educate my freshman and drive them to become more than they think they are capable of. If it wasn’t for David’s belief in me I would never have had the help from Steve and Roger that I got and I wouldn’t have had as much success as I have in music now. It just takes one person to influence your life.