My last first football game =[

I've been in marching band since my freshman year of high school, and now, 7 years later, I am starting my last season of marching band ever.  Last Thursday was my last first football game ever. It was definitely a day filled with emotion.  Seeing the freshman so excited for their first ever college band performance, while the seniors were a lot quieter and, while happy to be performing, also sad to be starting their last season in marching band, was such a shocking disparity because as a freshman I could not ever have imagined the emotion I would feel that day.  From the moment I put on my uniform that afternoon, the one thought that kept running through my head was that it was the beginning of my last season ever in marching band.  I know all of the other seniors were thinking the same thing.  The emotion we all had was evident.

Each year at the first football game, running out of the tunnel for pregame brings tears to my eyes.  The overwhelming emotion of seeing tens of thousands of people watching you perform is indescribable until you are actually on the field.  This year was no different for me- in fact it was probably the most emotional pregame show I've ever had, even more so than my first game freshman year at Rutgers.  Unlike previous years, I knew exactly what to expect running out of the tunnel.  And I knew that it would be my last time ever feeling that first-game-of-the-season rush of emotion.  I got chills as I saw the packed stadium for the first time, and I bit my lip so I wouldn't cry and would actually be able to play the show!  I had tears in my eyes during the whole pregame show (but I wasn't crying so much that I couldn't play!).  And I made sure to march the best pregame show of my life.

I think maybe the hardest part of it all was knowing that years and years from now (and even next year), students in the marching band will be running out onto the field for the first game of the season, but I won't be a part of it anymore.  All I can do is make the most of the time I have left in marching band and hope that this season is the best one ever.


Seniors <3