This past New Year My Marching band got the opportunity to marching the Rose Bowl Parade in Pasadena. We had been working so hard for this. Starting in August with band camp we practiced for this parade by marching around the track many many times. At the beginning of the school year we were all excited but I don’t think anyone knew the level of work that was going to be required.
Waking up a 5:45 every other morning to be “mark timing” on the track playing the Ultimate warm up at exactly 7:15 in the morning was not always easy. We would then proceed to practice our show, music, and marching for the next hour in the scorching sun. We worked so hard the entire season and once we were finished with the football games we focused on the up coming event, the ROSE BOWL PARADE. To prep for this we had many weekend practices and extra morning practices. We would sometimes practices marching and playing but at other times we would have conditioning. When they told us we were going to run...I thought it was a joke but no all 250 of us put on instruments on the grassy field, laced up those running shoes and ran around the track. It must have been a sight to see...250 band kids running around the track. We even practiced out at a vacant runway to practice the wide turns we need to master for the parade.
After months of our hard work we were off. We arrived in California two days after Christmas. Once we were there, there was no time to rest. We visited theme park after theme park. We went to Universal Studios, Disney Land, Six-flags/ Magic Mountain, and Knott's Berry Farm. Although this had no connection to band it was a time for us to bond with our friends. I must say an entire week with your friends is pretty awesome. I went on many rides and over came my fear of roller coasters. In addition to the opportunity to have a great time with my friends I go the opportunity to participate in the Disney Magical Music Days workshop. We got to play the role of professional musicians and played the background music for a few movie clips. At Disney land we also had the opportunity to march in the Disney land Main Street parade. This experience was so memorable and awesome because we were marching in the same parade as Mickey Mouse, Donald duck, Goofy, etc.
On the morning of New Year Day all 250 or so of us sprung out of our beds at 5:00 in the morning to dress and prepare for what would soon be the greatest experience of our lives. Half awake we dressed in our uniforms, and lugged ourselves on the bus where we ate our breakfast in the dark and caught a few more ZZZ before the big moment. After what seemed forever, we were lined up on the street in parade block. We all were excited with anticipation. We all held our heads up high as we stepped on to the main street of the Rose Bowl Parade. Seeing the smiles and clapping of the audience made me smile so widely. When we turned the corner to march pass the national TV broadcasters everyone held himself or herself up proudly. We were all so proud to represent our state. This was the best feeling in the world. While many of us won't understand how fortunate we were to have this opportunity, when we grow up and look back on this we will all remember it as the experience of our life.
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