Have you ever tried to lead and teach a group of people who did not want to learn? My high schools’ drum line is full of people who just don’t care anymore. Things like respect and wanting to strive to do the best have really changed over the years since I was a freshman.
As a freshman, my section leader worked wonders by gaining the respect of the people around him. By the end of that year he had worked long and hard enough to achieve a scholarship into SEMO and a spot in Phantom Regiment. I must admit I wasn’t the most mature person then, but I was not stupid either. I soon learned to follow his advice and began to practice in hopes of one day achieving what he had. After he saw potential in me he suggested I be moved from Bass drum to snare the following year.
As a sophomore I noticed people around me began to lose interest and become very lazy now that the old leader had moved on. With the freshmen that we now had, I was scared to see what would happen in the following years when they had to be the ones in charge of things.
I am now a junior and a section leader myself. The sophomores and freshmen, along with everybody else, are now my responsibility, and much as I had suspected, they lack any respect and/or discipline, which are key to success in any drum line as well as in day to day life. I have tried hard to earn their respect and show them discipline, for I believe you must try hard and work together to achieve greatness.
Next year I hope for a change in attitude, as mine has over the years, to have a great shift forward in progress and allow us to achieve many great things and be able to have fun and enjoy every minute of what we do and once again become one of the best drum lines around.