In February of senior year I attended a scholarship competition at MSU for prospective honors college students. It was a two-day event where we spent all day Friday touring the campus, attending seminars on academic programs, and meeting other current and prospective students at organized gatherings, then took the test for the scholarship on Saturday morning. I didn't get a scholarship out of this but attending the event and learning more about the university and the honors college in particular definitely convinced me to go to school there. While us students took the test on Saturday morning, our parents attended their own seminar on honors college requirements and financial information. The seminar presenter was an admissions counselor who was also the visual coordinator for the MSU marching band. After the test was over, my parents took me over to meet him and ask about the marching band and the color guard. He went on about how great the band was (of course) and how guard members were expected to be quick learners since the band learned a new halftime show for every home game. With this information and some searching on the internet for audition and band expectation information I began to realize that MSU's color guard could be a reasonable option and some seeds started to grow in my mind that this could actually be possible.
My friend Jenny from high school color guard was also going to MSU and wanted to try out for the marching band. In the spring of senior year we agreed to audition together. The audition day was a blistering hot Saturday in June. The building it was held at, Demonstration Hall, the building where the bands stores their equipment and holds indoor rehearsals, was not air conditioned. The audition skills were not too difficult but I was sweaty and miserable the whole time. I remember feeling pretty confident about the audition routine and thinking there was a variety of abilities in the other people auditioning. It was unclear how many open spots there would be so the audition could go either way. But I was hopeful.
When I got my letter I was a bit disappointed. The letter said they were considering me but felt I still had room to grow. I needed to attend a color guard camp at MSU that summer so they could watch me more closely and make their final decision. Under this circumstance my tuition for the camp would be covered by the university. I later found out that Jenny had got in right away. I was annoyed that I had to jump through this extra hoop to have a chance of being in the band and I started to wonder if it was worth it. But my parents told me that I had started down this path and I owed it to myself to see it through as far as I could. The camp I attended was the MSU Performing Arts Camp, a 3-day camp held every summer for high school color guard members and drum majors. There were four of us prospective MSU color guard members who were asked to attend the camp. In the end I actually enjoyed myself at the camp a lot. I made friends with the other MSU girls and the high schoolers I shared a room with. I learned a lot from the MSU guard coaches running the camp and hoped even more that I would make it so I could continue learning from them.
Finally in August I got the news that I had made the band. Even better, all three of the other MSU girls who went to the camp made it as well. Being a member of the MSU Spartan Marching Band means a lot of work in the week before classes start. This is the band camp week for the SMB, known as Preseason. Band members move in to their dorms 4-5 days before the rest of the students do and Welcome Week officially begins. Preseason is an intense week of learning the pre-game show, starting to learn the first halftime show, practicing basics, and for the freshmen, learning the parade march known as The Series and other essential SMB traditions.
I remember frantically moving into my dorm room on my first day of Preseason. New member rehearsals began at 1:00pm so my family and I drove the hour from our home to MSU's campus early that morning and working quickly until lunchtime to get everything moved into my room. In the end we got all the furniture moved in and set up but boxes of clothes and personal items were left sitting out in the room for me to unpack and put away later. My first introduction to the SMB was time spent sitting in a circle meeting the other guard freshmen and the squad leaders. (The old go around the circle and tell your name, your major, where you're from, and what dorm you live in routine.) I already knew Jenny from high school and the three girls from Performing Arts Camp - Amy, Sarah, and Candace - but there were now 9 other freshmen, 3 squad leaders, and 1 section leader to get to know as well. (Twenty-four hours later there would be 18 other guard members to meet as well. Lots of new people to keep track of. Yikes!)
Then we got to the work of learning marching basics in the SMB style with all the freshmen from the other sections - attention, parade rest, and dress center positions and procedures. We also learned the attendance block procedure that the band did at the beginning of each rehearsal. The band formed a specific block formation and marched in place and played the fight song (clapping to the music for the color guard) while squad leaders checked to make sure everyone in their squad group was there. There were also traditions of cheering and high-fiving during the break of the song to learn as well. When we tried this for the first time I remember feeling a little overwhelmed by just being thrown in to try it without any instructions, but it was so much fun I was smiling the whole time. We also had to do a 3/4 mile run around that section of the campus. Even though I was okay with running it definitely made me realize that this was going to be a lot more intense than I thought. From there the guard split off from the rest of the band to do work on guard-specific marching and flag basics. Later that night all of the freshmen gathered in the band room of the music building to learn about the history of the band and the proper way to sing and clap the fight song. We had freshman orientation activities like these every night from 9-11pm after regular band rehearsals.
The next day the rest of the returning band members joined us after lunch. When all 300+ members of the band were finally assembled on Dem Field for the first full attendance block of the season I was suddenly overwhelmed by how big this band was. And the same feeling continued when all 36 guard members gathered inside the Dem Hall ballroom to do stretching, dance, and flag basics together for the first time. I had no problems with the skills we practiced but I was definitely daunted by the number of girls in this section that I had to fit myself in among.
In those first few days I remember feeling that most of the returning members were a bit cool and distant from the freshmen (with the exception of a couple sophomores and the squad leaders). Not in an unfriendly way, but as if they were waiting to see how we measured up before really getting to know us. That didn't really bother me too much. The 14 guard freshmen had already bonded and this was just the kind of support system I needed during this week. At meal and water breaks we swapped stories of our high school experiences, reasons why we chose our majors, and hopes for the coming year. I especially became friends very quickly with a girl named Rachel who lived in the same dorm as me. (We both lived on the 2nd floor, just on opposite sides of the building.) Rachel and I ate breakfast together most mornings and walked to and from practice together. We had a lot in common too, including having taken dance classes our whole lives and being Christians who made faith an important part of our lives. Even though I saw Jenny at practice every day, her dorm was in a different part of campus so it was nice to have a new friend who lived so close by.
But the most grueling task of Preseason was learning The Series, the parade march routine the band did as they marched to the stadium before every home game. The Series is a 4-minute long drum cadence with a sequence of movements (horn swings for the band, flag presents for the guard) and vocals choreographed to it. Some parts are full unison with the whole band and others are specific to each section. The goal of Series is to look as intimidating as possible through sharp movements, loud, guttural vocals, intense facial expressions, and complete synchronization. MSU's team name is the Spartans, based on the great warriors from the ancient Greek city-state of Sparta. In the spirit of the Spartan warriors of ancient Greece, we're supposed to look like an army marching to war when we do the Series on the way to the stadium (where the football team will battle to win the game). It's a pretty good metaphor in my opinion. Doing the Series correctly with as much intensity as possible is a tradition that all band members take very seriously, and the effect is definitely achieved.
The guard freshmen were first introduced to Series on our second day with the band. We got a head start on it before the rest of the freshmen since it takes longer to learn our part of Series. For horn players, Series is very physically demanding since they high-step march the whole time, but it's also very repetitive. They can learn the horn moves very quickly, since their aren't very many. Their biggest challenge is the endurance. Guard Series is not high-stepped (since our knees would get in the way of the six-foot flag poles), so it's not quite as physical. But our flag movements only repeat in a few places so we have a lot more to learn and remember. It's more of a mental challenge for us. The routine is physically challenging enough and the intensity feels very unnatural, so it takes quite a degree of mental concentration to stay focused on the movements and the timing. Here's a video of the band doing Series to the stadium on a game day. This is actually from the first football game my freshman year.
I remember being completely blown away when I saw the squad leaders do Series for the first time. They were so sharp and intense and this kind of guard routine was like nothing I'd ever done before. I was a little concerned that I wouldn't do it well enough. When we started learning I began to realize that small details are essential in guard Series. Everything has to be exact from the angle and height of the flag on each movement, the position of the hands, the posture, the intensity in the eyes and face, the exact timing of each movement, the grip on the flag pole, and even the way muscles are tensed and released. These things are important at all times in color guard, but especially in a routine like Series with little room for error. On top of that there's the vocals as well, which have to correspond perfectly with certain movements. Volume, pitch, expression, and enunciation have to be exact. The squad leaders always got on our case about forcing our voices to be deep enough that we didn't sound like girls. A lot of new band members lose their voices for a couple days while learning Series.
For me, the facial expressions, muscle tenses, and vocal intensity of Series was especially difficult. Also, when the line order for the Series block was set I was placed at the very front of one of the two freshmen lines. I would learn later that this position meant that the guard instructor and squad leaders thought I was strong and consistent, but in the meantime it just meant that I couldn't see anyone else while doing Series and I to rely entirely on myself to remember and execute the routine. I resented that for a day or two but soon it became a challenge that I was determined to overcome. I was in the front and I had to be exact or else the whole line behind me would see it. We practiced Series for 1-2 hours every afternoon with just the color guard and then from 9-11pm on 3 nights of Preseason with the rest of the freshmen. Those nights were the worst. Everything hurt. My head hurt from the sound of the drums echoing through the gym, my feet, legs, and back hurt from standing up straight for so long, my arms hurt from holding up the flag, yanking it around, and tensing my muscles. Even my face hurt from trying to look intense and angry. I had bruises on my arms, legs, and back from the flag smacking against them over and over in some of the movements. The building we practiced in had no air conditioning and I was drenched in sweat. I got sick of the squad leaders constantly harping on us about everything we were doing wrong. My biggest problems with Series were that I tended to lean forward and my tenses weren't strong enough. Two of the squad leaders seemed to make it their personal missions to make me improve these things and were constantly on me about it.
Some of other freshmen complained bitterly that week about the work, but I kept my mouth shut. If we wanted to survive in the band we had to learn to do this well so there wasn't much use complaining. I did what I did as a freshman in the flute section four years ago when I started in high school. I learned that the best thing to do as a newbie was to work hard, keep your mouth shut, be nice to everyone, and do as you're told. It seemed to work because through all of this the squad leaders and the other freshmen were friendly and respectful to me. I knew hard work and determination well, but until that week I never knew the amount of self-discipline I was capable of. Series was extremely tough but it was a challenge I was determined to meet.
In the SMB the color guard is not part of the pregame show, so we spent a lot of time inside Dem Hall during the day working on flag and dance fundamentals while the rest of the band learned pregame. As the week went on and the pregame show began to come together I began to catch snippets of it's full effect. Toward the end of the week when we started learning the halftime show we would see run-throughs of it when we came out of Dem to join them. The sound of the band playing that music was one of the most wondrous and powerful sounds I'd ever heard in my life. It filled me up inside and sent chills down my spine. In all four years I spent in the band I never lost my wonderment at the pregame show. The whole thing was magical - the powerful rah-rah music that fired you up, the perfectly synchronized marching, the razor sharp turns, the drum major and baton twirler routines, and the way the drill moves matched the music perfectly for maximum effect. It was the impressive nature of marching band at it's absolute best. And even though I wasn't marching that exact routine I felt honored to be part of an organization that could do something like that.
Then came the process of learning my first college halftime show. In the SMB, like most college bands, we learn a completely new halftime show for every home game. The drill learning process moved much more quickly than in high school and each member has to be much more self-sufficient in order to keep up the pace. My brain got a major work-out the day we learned the drill for the first halftime show that season, a medley of popular karaoke songs. We cruised through all the drill positions for the whole song in the span of an hour and a half. It was tough but I managed to keep up.
Now the SMB color guard has an alternate system where there are 4 extra members than the number put on the field for each game. The "bottom 8" members are put in pairs to learn each show. If you are assigned a paired spot, or "shadowed" as we call it, you and your partner both have to learn the drill positions for that spot. The Thursday before the game auditions are held where the instructor and squad leader determine which person from each pair will march the show. The members who are shadowed are usually freshmen (and maybe some weaker sophomores). Having to be shadowed for every game your freshman year is not uncommon. But some freshmen are lucky enough to get their own spots, even luckier if you can go your entire freshman season without getting shadowed once. I was one of those lucky ones. Later on I would learn it was because I was consistent, dependable, learned quickly, and had a good attitude. At the time it felt like a gift and a stroke of luck and I was determined not to waste it and work hard enough to keep my own spot.
The final test of Preseason was the Freshman Dress Rehearsal, which was actually more of a demonstration for the rest of the band that we could perform Series correctly. Until this point none of the other returning members besides the squad leaders had seen us do Series. All new members from the entire band lined up at the start of Wilson Road, a street that runs the length of the south end of campus. While the rest of the band and the directors walk with us we march all the way down Wilson, a distance of about a mile although it feels longer, and back. The squad leaders critique and instruct us along the way but the rest of the band stays silent, only interacting at all when they step in to the block to give us water on the breaks after each run-through of Series. The squad leaders are intentionally very tough and critical with us the whole way down the road. It was a very challenging experience and I remember feeling a little angry, but mostly just determined to do well. About halfway down I began to feel almost calm and confident and for the first time Series began to settle in and feel comfortable. At the end of road we stopped for an hour at a big field where the squad leaders split us up into small groups and worked with us on specific Series skills. The mood here is much lighter and not so intimidating.
When we made the return journey we turned right about halfway up the road so we could finish at a specific place on campus called The Rock. (One of those classic giant rocks that people like to paint with special messages. The band always paints a congratulation message for the freshmen after Freshman Dress.) All the way back the comments from squad leaders became much more encouraging and positive (I would learn later this was done on purpose). At this point in the experience I was just so exhausted I was running on just adrenaline. I could tell we were almost done and I just calmly kept going. I was so focused that I didn't realize that the rest of the band had disappeared until we were close to the end. I wondered briefly where they went but I didn't give it much thought. We stopped right before the bridge next to the Rock. All along the bridge I could see the other band members lined up cheering for us. The director gave the signal for us to the band's field entrance march (called the Kickstep). We Kickstepped across the bridge and the drum major whistled for us to halt. We finished out the Kickstep sequence in place, halted, and heard the whistle blow again to signal that we could relax. At that moment shouts and cheers erupted from all sides and the other band members rushed in from the sides of the bridge. Before I realized what was happening a guard senior caught me in a bone crushing hug. Over the next few minutes I was hugged by nearly every member of the color guard, many of whom were crying, and told how proud they were of me. I didn't cry, but many of the other freshmen did. I just felt numb, relieved to be finished and trying to make sense of all this emotion around me. Finally the band president directed us over to the Rock where there was more cheering and pictures in front of the Rock. Then the director led us over to the steps of the Auditorium. He told us that by completing the Freshman Dress task the new members had proven their abilities in the band and we could now consider ourselves fully a part of the band. All together for the first time all 300 members sang the alma mater and fight song.
As this week went along I slowly began to appreciate the traditions that were so important in the SMB. At the end of Freshman Dress I saw for the first time just how much this all meant to every member of the band. I had seen it before from the student leaders, but it was overpowering to see it from every member at once. It was hard to believe that so many people could have so much love for this organization, but here it was. And as the days went by that season I understood it more and more.
I tell the story of my audition and first week in the band to reach an understanding of how I first fell in love with the SMB and how I fought to earn my place there. The rest of the experience from here on out was for the most part smooth sailing. I belonged to the SMB and the SMB belonged to me. It became a part of me in more ways than I'll ever fully know. It shaped the person I have become.
In four years in the SMB I learned more than 20 halftime shows and did more performances than I could count. The halftime shows we did included Broadway, classical, Journey, Queen, Motown, gospel, game show tunes, 90's rock, James Bond, alternative rock, dance, Bruce Springsteen, and Fiddler on the Roof. I watched the Spartan football team struggle through the 2006 season, the shame of the Big Ten conference, and then rise to greatness in 2007, 2008, and 2009 until the coaching of Mark Dantonio. I cheered and clapped through countless football games, sitting there with the band to the very end - win or lose, searing heat or biting cold, bright sun or pouring rain. I loved the way the crowd roared when the band took the field at every game. It was an extraordinary sight getting down on that field and looking up at the mass of 75,000 people surrounding me. The size of the audience never scared me, instead I was thrilled by it. The only people that got to be on that field were the football team, cheerleaders, dance team, Sparty mascot, and the band. I loved the feeling of being able to excite people with a performance, the joy they got from hearing the music and watching the marching. Whenever I told people I met in classes or other activities that I was in band I always got the same reactions: "That's so cool! Wow, I could never do that. How do you have time for it? What's it like to be out on that field? I love watching the band." After four years of being ignored and under-appreciated in high school band, it was great to be so respected by the student body in college.
In band I traveled to three bowl games - the 2007 Champs Sports Bowl and 2009 Capital One Bowl in Orlando, FL and the 2010 Alamo Bowl in San Antonio, TX. These trips involved free trips to Disney World, Universal Studios, the San Antonio Riverwalk, and the Alamo, plenty of free meals, time relaxing by the pool, shopping in malls, and wonderful memories with friends, all for the price of a few rehearsals and performances. I witnessed glorious victories and agonizing defeats out of Spartan Stadium at away games at the University of Michigan, Notre Dame, University of Pittsburgh, and Ohio State. (Including MSU's first victory over U of M in 7 years.) I met band members from visiting schools. I joined the band service sorority Tau Beta Sigma and devoted hours of my time to helping out with some of the behind the scenes work in the band. I watched three more freshman classes do their Freshman Dress and congratulated them joyfully at the end. I met my first boyfriend in the band and was overjoyed when he asked me to the band formal sophomore year. And then I sought solace from my section and the routine of rehearsals and performances when he broke up with me almost two years later. I made friends for life here and a few more who would come and go.
I used to look over at the student section during each football game, thinking about how different my life would be if I hadn't tried out for band and spent my football games there instead of here. Same thing during Preseason when I watched the rest of the students enjoying Welcome Week while I sweated from the heat and hard work. But I never wished for that. Sure I sacrificed some of the normal student experience to be in band, but I gained so much more.
At my last home football game my senior year I soaked in the feeling of doing everything for the last time - rehearsing in the early morning, eating brunch with the guard girls, getting hair, makeup, and uniform ready, walking up to Adams Field, attendance block and practice before Series, marching to the stadium, waiting to go through the tunnel, watching pregame, cheering on the team in the stands, performing the halftime show (traditionally to songs from favorite past shows chosen by the seniors), the postgame show, marching back from the stadium, and singing the alma mater with the band one last time. I reveled in the senior traditions - hearing my name called at the end of halftime, throwing a rose in the river during the march back, and singing the second verse of the alma mater with just the seniors. I couldn't help crying a little bit through all of this, remembering the journey I had made over the last four years.
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