DCP Announces Ticket Contest Winner

Most age-outs write you a letter, thanking you for the impact you’ve had on their lives. I didn’t do that this summer in Boston. Why, you ask? Because I didn’t appreciate you while you were with me, and I regret it every single day. 

When I drive past a school, I think of 200 miserable rehearsals where I was wishing to be anywhere but there. But now, ironically, there’s nowhere else I would rather be. I’d give anything for one more six-and-a-half block in Texas, and I’d give everything to fall asleep next to my best friends one more night. 

But most of all, Drum Corps, I feel thanks. It has not even been a year since my age-out ceremony, but I can’t imagine my life without you. So much has changed in my life. I felt so guilty for not training hard enough in the winter, that I started taking care of my health. I have lost 30 lbs., and am still going strong. The asthma that almost ended my marching career is under control, and my blood sugar has never been this normal. Instead of going on tour this summer, I decided to go abroad to Europe to study. Speaking of studying, this semester I have the highest GPA I’ve ever had in my life. 

The most important thing I’ve gained, though, is thicker skin. When you begin your rookie year, all you see is obstacles – how heavy your horn is, how much your hands hurt from spinning, and how disoriented you often feel. Yet when it’s all over, and you’re walking off of the age-out field, shoeless, you realize that the only boundaries are the ones you construct for yourself. That realization will come, and will change your perspective forever. All of this is a huge cliché, but it’s only a cliché because it’s true.

Not a day goes by that has not been changed by my experiences with you. When people around me complain of being hot, tired, or overwhelmed, I sit up a little straighter, because I know that I can push through it. When people around me doubt their abilities, I know that they are capable of so much more than they think they are. When others panic, I feel calm. That rare kind of confidence is something one must earn, and is probably the most valuable reward of all.