Alana called us up to attention, “Band-Ten-Hut!!!” 

“HUT!!!!” Our response lingered in the air for a split second as it echoed through the stadium.  With this, the drum line tapped us off and we begin our ascent onto the grassy stage. My nerves were numb with excitement, as chills erupted inside me from head to toe.

It’s now our time to shine… Let’s show everyone what we can do… This is what we have been working for all season…

Through the screaming crowd and over the taps of the drums, I heard Alana’s voice beside me… “Well, this is it…” A smile stretched across her face as I nodded subtly and responded under my breath, “Let’s roll…”

When Alana counted us off to start the performance, the feeling that overcame me was indescribable.  I felt the power and the energy from everyone around me in a way that can only be described as fantastic. 

This is what marching band is all about.  Feeding off the energy of your fellow band members and performing with such an intensity and focus that the world around you seems to stand still.  All outside noises, the screaming crowd, the announcer, all of it just fades away into silence.  You feel nothing, not pain, not fatigue, only pure power and the presence of the 40 people that you have worked so hard with for the last 2 months in order to get to this moment. 

Only after you complete the final push of the show and catch your breath after the last note, does the world begin to move again.  The crowd's screams, the announcer’s voice, everything comes blaring back into your senses. Your legs suddenly feel like pudding and your arms were burning as if they were a blaze with fire.  Sweat pours down your face by the “bucket-full” and your lungs viciously gasp for air.  But through all this, you smile.  Why? because that feeling is a once in a life-time experience and it's pretty hard to believe that it just happened.

As we all settled down for awards, the universal feeling was pretty confident.  This was our first show all season that was not cold, wet, and utterly miserable.  Everyone felt like we had performed exceptionally well.  Then our score came in…

“And in second place with a score of 87.95... Tuscarora!” 

This was a lot lower than we had expected for a performance of that magnitude.  Many of my friends were really upset by this score but I knew, judging by past years, that it meant we probably would make it to ACC’s in two weeks.

When all of the scores were calculated, we ended up in 21st place overall out of 49 bands, which meant that we did, indeed, qualify for the Atlantic Coast Championships.  We have three practices and one football game before ACC’s this Sunday and then the season is over. 

It still blows my mind that the band has jumped so far this season.  Since band camp, the band has been plagued with major obstacles that just kept getting harder and harder.  We have climbed our way up to the top, despite the many challenges that stood in our way, and have made wonders happen.  It is for that reason alone, that I couldn’t be happier about how this season has turned out.  But we still have one more show to jump even farther and I have no doubt in my mind that, after the difficult season that we have all gone through, there is no challenge that the mighty Tuscarora Titan band can’t get through.  "Let’s Rock and Roll" the ACC’s field and make it a performance that everyone will forever remember.

EXCELLENCE! PRIDE! COMMITMENT!!! GO TITANS!!!!

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