AGdrummer Posted November 3, 2007 Share Posted November 3, 2007 As the Tan lines fade. A story of my summer. When you think of summer vacation for the average college student what do you think of? Work to pay off those long hard classes? or to pay for that little slice of heaven while on vacation? Not for me. My name is Derek Pellerin I am a Student At KVCC in the applied electronics and computer technology program. I am also a member of the Early college for me program. For me a normal summer does not exsist. for me a normal summer means long practices in the sun wind and the rain with temperatures exceeding 100 degrees. For me I am a member of an elite preforming group known as the Citations Drum and Bugle corps. We are Sanctioned by DCI (drum corps international, www.DCI.org) A Drum corps consists of A Front ensemble, a Horn Line (Trumpets,mellophones,baritones, and Contras(tubas)) The battery Percussion( Snare Drums, Multi Tenor drums, And bass drums (some lines also include Cymbal players)) and the Color guard (flag rifles and sabers) There are 3 divisions ranging form the size of 30 kids up to 135 from the ages of 14-21. This past summer I left the halls of KVCC and moved into a host family since I was 3 hours away from our practice sights in Massachusetts. Life then began to change for me. Practices for me started way before school let out. I spent most of my weekends traveling back and forth to Burlington mass where the corps is out of. Starting with the open house in November. No matter if it was snowing raining or sleeting i was on the road to those practices. I was the only one to ever travel that far to rehearse and to perform with this elite group. Not just anyone can join one of theres groups. there is a rigorous mental physical and talent based audition. being a division 3 corps the audition is not as rigorous as the 2 divisions above. Over the months practices increased as we learned our show “Passions of a Latin Groove” which was 4 distinct movements of Latin music. Opening with Los endos suite By phil collins, Next was Pegasus by chic Correa, then Our beautiful ballad My Spanish heart, followed by the upbeat closer En fuego “onfire” I was in the front ensemble for this group, where I played drum set. In the front ensemble, is where you find a variety of instruments such as Marimbas ,Vibraphones, Xylophones, Bell sets and aux percussion. The front ensemble is one of the toughest parts of the corps to be a part of. Its all a mental game where you must not only play your music, but make it fit in to what the horn line, and the Battery percussion are providing. ) As School let out i moved to Burlington Massachusetts to participate in all the corps practices and preliminary parades and such before the season of competition opened up on June 23rd in Brockton Mass. As the season progressed and shows started our show got better and better. We won every single show on the east coast earning gold medals at every show we attended giving us the title East Coast Champion. For all of this to happen Ihad to give up the normal life and adapt myself to a life on the road not knowing what my next move or my next event would be. taking 3 months off from work and diving into the world Of Drum and Bugle Corps. Being in a drum and bugle corps is not an easy thing to do. you have to leave your family behind leave your whole world and sacrifice your summer to gain a entire new family withing the members of the corps and to compete for the title of World Champions at DCI Championships. This particular year DCI chose to Host Championships in Pasadena California. On July 26th me and the members, staff and support staff boarded a plane destined for Seattle Washington to start our west coast tour. Tour consists of practice every day 9-9 on days we didn't have shows and 9-430 then the show on show days. Every night we were in a new town sleeping on gym floors and on buses as we traveled to the next city to rehearse and perform for the paying audiences. For 2 weeks i traveled the country visiting such states as Washington Oregon and Lastly California while we were on tour. Life on the road can tire one person out, but life on the road to me was a dream come true, something i have wanted to do my entire life, As shows began on tour we started to compete against our west coast rivals spending our off time making the show that much better to beat out the competition the next time we saw them. For the average student they spent the summer raising the money to afford to go to college or to afford to make it by. For me I spent 1500 dollars to do all of this. To travel the country to make friends that will last a lifetime and training to be a world class musician. As tour continued and we moved city to city we made our way to what is called Finals week where the final competitions are held and corps are eliminated to just the top corps in the divisions are left. As finals week came closer the “family” as I now called it became closer. We spend the last 10 months of out lives getting to know each other eating every meal with each other and rehearsing in wind rain sun and the alike to make our show that much better. Before every show the corps would come together and sing the corps song as a unit “Seasons of Love” from the Musical Rent. As the tan lines start to fade its the memories and the friends you will have for a lifetime. As finals week started for us we competed in our preliminary performance. It was in Pasadena City College stadium where we performed surrounded by palm trees on a beautiful sunny day in California. Our performance was the best that we had ever had that season. As we left the field and all huddled up after the show like we always did waiting from the staffs last notes on the performance, we all were in tears as sweat rolled down our faces, knowing that we had left the best performance that we ever had inside us on the field knowing we could of not done any better. No matter what was to come score wise we knew in our heart and our souls we were Champions no matter what would turn out for us we knew we did all we could and the feeling was amazing. Having a medal or making finals is not what it is all about. Knowing that you have a family that has your back no matter what is the best feeling in the world. The feeling knowing that you had completed something amazing something that not just anyone could get up and do. For me i had fulfilled a life long dream creating memories and friends for a lifetime. As my tan lines fade and the scores fade from my mind its the friends the family and the memories of a lifetime I remember. For me this is a normal summer. Drum corps has made me a better person in and outside the class room. For me i have learned so many life lessons in such a short period of time that apply to the real life after college. For me a normal summer consists of spending my days in the hot sun the blinding wind or the flood or a random rainstorm. When you think of Summer “vacation” this is not what most people would call ideal. for me it is the Best summer of my life. For me the average summer does not need to apply. As the months slowly pass by and my tan starts to fade I prepare to take the field in World championship Competition one last time for my “age out year” At the age or 21 you age out of DCI. For me i will return back to the Drum Corps life style for one more last time to rekindle past experiences and build new life long memories. Are you ready? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mouthpiece1234 Posted November 4, 2007 Share Posted November 4, 2007 Best Post I've read in a while. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AGdrummer Posted November 4, 2007 Author Share Posted November 4, 2007 Best Post I've read in a while. Thank you very much! i had to write this for my scholarship program to show the other kids that were not all just college students we are all different. Thank you for taking the time to read my post! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crazy_marcher Posted November 4, 2007 Share Posted November 4, 2007 That is awesome man! I had my rookie year too last summer and your post/essay reminded me of some things I thought I had forgotten about! I wrote somethng similar for my admissions essay into Michigan State University. Your post is pretty deep and poetic at times. B) Pretty cool man. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TerriTroop Posted November 4, 2007 Share Posted November 4, 2007 (edited) That's a great article. (Being a teacher, I'll be the first to do this: you may want to get some other eyes on it for proofing before submitting it anywhere - if that was your hope and goal. You have some grammar and spelling errors that need a little attention. ) Having said that, it's a beautiful window into the activity and the passion it engenders in those who participate in it. Edited November 4, 2007 by TerriTroop Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AGdrummer Posted November 4, 2007 Author Share Posted November 4, 2007 That's a great article. (Being a teacher, I'll be the first to do this: you may want to get some other eyes on it for proofing before submitting it anywhere - if that was your hope and goal. You have some grammar and spelling errors that need a little attention. )Having said that, it's a beautiful window into the activity and the passion it engenders in those who participate in it. Thank you al of you. It Was for a Sholarship program that i am part of. I thought id post it as open houses approach to give the incoming rookies a chance to see what drum corps is all about. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CitBos Posted June 10, 2009 Share Posted June 10, 2009 I was there! So many memories..... (Dirty Pirate Hooker, "All visitor's must report to main office", the pirate flag, "En Fuego, Winnebego, Leggo my Ego, I won a bagel", practicing at that one show site in Cali. with the fire like 3 or 4 miles away, No housing site during finals, no practice site during finals, 'House Cleaning Team') I'm sure I'll think of more later. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoHmempho04 Posted June 10, 2009 Share Posted June 10, 2009 That would be a great title for a book full of drum corps stories. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AGdrummer Posted June 10, 2009 Author Share Posted June 10, 2009 That would be a great title for a book full of drum corps stories. That summer was one i will never forget. We didn't make finals heck we didn't make semis, but i wouldn't give up that family i made that summer. What i wouldn't do to be younger. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CitBos Posted June 16, 2009 Share Posted June 16, 2009 That summer was one i will never forget. We didn't make finals heck we didn't make semis, but i wouldn't give up that family i made that summer. What i wouldn't do to be younger. Amen to that! But who's to say that they wouldn't have given you up? j/k Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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