Friday morning. Alarm clock goes off at 6:30 a.m. Seniors Maya Rigley, Tiger You and Kiana Shirmanesh climb out of bed, ready to face the day. Tedious details await for them to attend to, but they are already too familiar with the weekly cycle for them to mind. It is game day, and the longest day of the week for drums majors has just begun.
“Game days are much like normal days,” You said. “I get up at the same time, and go through all six of my classes basically the same.”
While it may seem like they have it easy, drum majors are constantly faced with complicated tasks. They are required to have a sense of charisma and confidence in order to lead the many talented band members each Friday night. When 200 people have their eyes on a particular …show more content…
At 4:58, their call time, the band gets into uniform and goes to the marching field, where they run through their routine before checking each other to make sure that they do not leave anything crucial behind.
“It is not a high stress environment, because our band has gone through this routine so many times,” Rigley said. “Making sure all the equipment and instruments are loaded is the most important part, on which the loading crew does a really great job.”
Being a high school student in band is hard enough, but balancing the activities of a drum major along with school, work and extracurricular activities proves to be a difficult task. Whether it is going to tennis or golf practice, clinical rotations or work, participating in the Greater Dallas Youth Orchestra (GDYO) or figure skating, the drum majors’ schedules allow for little time to rest. Although they are given a scant amount of time to get even homework done for the next day, the drum majors manage to execute their daily to-do lists with ease, a feat that takes time to master.
“To be honest, it is so hard for me,” Shirmanesh said, “but it is doable and completely worth
“Game days are much like normal days,” You said. “I get up at the same time, and go through all six of my classes basically the same.”
While it may seem like they have it easy, drum majors are constantly faced with complicated tasks. They are required to have a sense of charisma and confidence in order to lead the many talented band members each Friday night. When 200 people have their eyes on a particular …show more content…
At 4:58, their call time, the band gets into uniform and goes to the marching field, where they run through their routine before checking each other to make sure that they do not leave anything crucial behind.
“It is not a high stress environment, because our band has gone through this routine so many times,” Rigley said. “Making sure all the equipment and instruments are loaded is the most important part, on which the loading crew does a really great job.”
Being a high school student in band is hard enough, but balancing the activities of a drum major along with school, work and extracurricular activities proves to be a difficult task. Whether it is going to tennis or golf practice, clinical rotations or work, participating in the Greater Dallas Youth Orchestra (GDYO) or figure skating, the drum majors’ schedules allow for little time to rest. Although they are given a scant amount of time to get even homework done for the next day, the drum majors manage to execute their daily to-do lists with ease, a feat that takes time to master.
“To be honest, it is so hard for me,” Shirmanesh said, “but it is doable and completely worth