Being in marching band can quite literally have many impacts on a student's life. It can teach a student many things that can help them in life. The impacts might not show right away, but if a student is involved with marching band or any band that is, in high school, it can change their life in many ways and it can impact a student in a bunch of different and positive ways. By teaching responsibility, teamwork, perseverance, generosity, and camaraderie, marching band can really improve and make a student’s life better and can make a student more successful.

Marching band teaches students an immense amount of responsibility. For example, by being in marching band, you have to learn your music, make sure you have your instrument, and make sure you know your music thoroughly all before going to rehearsal that day. Without making sure of these things, you would probably find yourself in a world of trouble. Along with this, you have to be responsible with your music and practice. Without practicing and working with your music, you would not be doing your best. Practice makes perfect—and without practice, how could you do your very best?

Along with teaching students responsibility, it can teach students teamwork. Marching band can teach a person teamwork by making them work together and allowing them to work symbiotically with one another. Without working together with those around you, nothing would really work out. And without everything working out, it would basically be a hot mess. In marching band, each and every person is of equal importance. By being in marching band, teamwork can play a huge role and even if two or three people are off, that could quite possibly goof everything up. The value of working together and making music is learned in marching band, and it can help you so much in life when you’re out of high school.

In marching band, you are taught a great deal of perseverance. One of the first home games we had at our high school, the other band took up the majority of our time for halftime, and we had about two minutes to perform a six or seven minute halftime show. We couldn’t give up, and we managed to go through it before the football team got back on the field. By being in marching band, you see all kinds of different bands, and sometimes you can see bands that are better than your band but that doesn’t mean you can give up. Even if you mess up, quitting is far from being an option. If and when you mess up, take a moment and think about how you can fix it.

Believe it or not, being in a marching band can teach you generosity. The other band usually claps for your band, and vice versa. It’s not like football, where the teams normally don’t like each other and argue, but with marching band, the bands always congratulate and praise each other for their performances. By supporting another band, it doesn’t take away from your band, it builds up your band more.

Marching band teaches camaraderie. By making memories and sharing experiences, you build relationships with those people. You are with those people the majority of your high school career. Even if people get annoyed with each other, everyone always resolves the issue. Marching band becomes the family you’ll never forget.

As you can see, marching band can have a large impact on a student. Ranging from preservereance to kindness, marching band is an amazing opportunity that everyone should have the chance to be in. Being in marching band could change your life. Just make a step (on your left foot, of course.) and join your school’s marching band.