Q: What activities are you involved in? 

A: “I do a lot of band activities, [but] I think the biggest one I’m in is marching band, but then I also do the band for show choir. I [also] do basketball pit band. This year I’m in the pit band for the musical and jazz band.” 

Q: What made you decide to join band in the sixth grade? 

A: “I feel like everyone wants to play an instrument in fifth grade, [but] they don’t realize the commitment, and they’re like, ‘Oh my gosh, playing an instrument.’I kind of just never stopped. At the end of my sophomore year, I really wanted to quit. My mom didn’t let me. And I’m really glad she didn’t because like I said, my junior and senior years have been so fun with band.” 

Q: What would you say is the most challenging part of being in high school band and all your activities in band? 

A: “Just the time commitment. It’s so much. It’s really worth it for me, [and] it’s really rewarding, but it’s so hard to keep up with. I got up at 5 a.m. or 5:20 a.m. every day and sometimes did not leave school until around 11:30 p.m. So it’s a huge time commitment, and you have to find time when you can do homework or studying. But it is so worth it.” 

Q: What would you tell future band students?

A: “Stay in band. You’re going to want to quit, everyone wants to quit at some point,  but it really is so fun. I feel like I’ve wanted to quit every year I’ve done band, but I haven’t, and I’m so grateful that I haven’t because I have all these experiences with it. Just stay in band, please. The fine arts program at our school is shrinking.” 

Q: What was your favorite part of senior year? 

A: “I would say marching band or show choir band. Just because the competitions are just so fun, and I get to hang out with my friends for an entire Saturday. Even if I have to get up at like 3 a.m., it’s still a lot of fun. 

Q: Can you summarize senior year in three words?

A: “I think ‘fast’ would definitely be one of them. I think ‘hectic’ would be another, and it sounds so corny when I say the last one, [but] I feel very ‘nostalgic’ because recently I’ve been getting into a lot of my old interests that I was into in middle school. [It] sounds really nerdy, but [it’s] like a lot of the same music and TV shows that I liked in middle school, and it just makes me really nostalgic, and I’m like ‘Oh I’m graduating. This is really weird.’ I think it really puts how old I am and how close I am to graduation into perspective. I think New Years was the first time it really hit me that I was graduating because I was like ‘Oh my gosh, it’s 2026.’ That’s the number that’s in my school e-mail that’s been in my school e-mail for 12 years. And now it’s that year, and I don’t know, I feel like as high school has gone on, the years have gotten progressively faster and faster.” 

Q: Are you excited to leave high school? 

A: “Yes, it’s time. I love everyone here, [and] I’m going to miss them so much. But it’s time for a change of scenery. I have to get out.”