Sweat ran down my face. My heart pounded in my chest. My breath came out in exhilarated pants as I grinned up at the cheering crowd in the stands. I had just finished my first performance in the final rounds of a marching band competition. I had just won a competition for the first time in my life, and the thrill of victory set my heart ablaze with a passion to set and achieve goals to bring out my full potential in all aspects of my life.

Ever since joining my high school marching band, my life has been full of intense challenges and glorious rewards. I had started out my high school career a shy, wimpy, nerdy girl who always hid behind others, too afraid to do anything to be noticed even in a positive light, but then marching band stepped in and changed me for the better.
From day one of band camp, I was forced to step out of my comfort zone, speak to new people, and help others. Each day, I would sprint down to rehearsal and grin as the physical and mental exercise commenced. I had days when it was too much to juggle band along with choir and all of my Pre-AP classes all at once, but, ever since that first victory, marching band always gave me some new hope or idea to solve my problems. When I needed to fill hours for National Honors Society and also finish my Pre-Calculus, I could solve my problem by offering Pre-Calculus tutoring to my fellow students!

Before I had joined the marching band, I would have simply given up on committing to National Honors Society. I would have allowed myself to fail all of my classes because I would have been too frightened or embarrassed to ask for help. But after joining the marching band, I set new goals for my life that would last outside of high school and make my life great.