I play trombone. Both my parents are musicians, so obviously they wanted me to choose an instrument to play in band; they both play saxophones. At first, I was thinking the flute because my mom plays flute. I thought that it would be cool to do something with my entire hand instead of with my fingers, so I chose the trombone. I definitely think it’s one of the best instruments. I really like when you nail something, and it sounds great, and being like “Yes, I did it!” or “Everything is going to be okay.” That’s my favorite part.

   I remember, at first I had to do SEIBA (Southeastern Iowa Bandmasters Association), and I remember being so nervous. I thought my audition went okay. I remember something happening. My slide broke or something, and I freaked out. But, I ended up getting first chair in that band, which the first chair goes on to All-state, so I didn’t have to audition again. It was definitely memorable. We didn’t have chair auditions or anything, so it was definitely cool to be playing with people from all over the state of Iowa, and the director was cool.

   There were a lot of people that went from my school in SEIBA. I think nine or ten, which is a school record, and I knew a bunch of people. I talked to the people around me, but I didn’t make any close friends.

   I’ve been playing trombone since fifth grade, which is four years. I played piano for about seven years, and I played violin for four years when I was a little kid. It’s a really cool experience to be playing with all these people who enjoy music, and it definitely helps build brain stuff.

   I remember in fifth grade, when I first started going to band after school every Tuesday, band was the highlight of everything. I was so excited, and I would definitely encourage people to join band. This year, I’m the only freshman in concert band. I think Mr. Millard said that I would be in symphonic band next year.

   It takes a lot of dedication to get your tone better because I remember my tone was not great, but then I had my teacher last year and he was amazing. He helped me open my throat and get the best tone. It definitely takes some dedication because you have to practice, and you have to be there for concerts, and class. I don’t think I would have started band because I didn’t really know about it without my parents being like “Oh you need to do this!” so they were definitely a huge part in that. I really hope that I can do some form of music in college. It’s one of my favorite things to do.