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By NOAH WORTHAM | Managing Editor

As I walked through the doors into Elvin Hill Elementary School’s gym as a fifth grader and sat down “crisscross applesauce,” I did not expect what I was about to see and hear, nor did I know how much it would affect me for the rest of my life.

We are so impressionable when we are younger and some things that adults might consider mundane are brand new and magical. Every experience is new and valuable and some, if they strike deep enough, can even change the direction of a child’s entire life.

One of those moments happened to me in fifth grade as I watched older students in the concert band perform and I was enraptured by the sounds that filled the room and the visual spectacle of watching them play. My fellow classmates were amazed as they watched an older student move his fingers about the keys and play during a captivating saxophone solo.

It was in those moments that I first became interested in joining band during my education years and that is exactly what I did when I started sixth grade at Columbiana Middle School.

The middle school band director at the time, Leah Seng, allowed students to test and try the instruments to see which one was right for them. I found myself doing well with the clarinet but my hands were just too tiny at the time to manage covering the tone holes. Additionally, I performed well on the flute and the trumpet and had the opportunity to proceed forward with one of them.

Despite being such an important decision, I don’t really remember leaning one way or the other but ended up selecting the trumpet, which fortuitously, happened to be the same instrument my father had played when he was in school—a detail about him I did not know and a great way for my parents to save money since he still had it. After a deep clean, I had my hands on an old Bundy brand cornet and was ready to begin my attempt at music.

I went on to play in band throughout middle school and, in eighth grade, I joined the Pride of Shelby County Marching Band which turned out to be the best year I would ever have in band and gave me some of my greatest school memories as I learned all of the basics and struggled to keep up with the others as a rookie. I had to take my years of experience playing the instrument and now add memorization and marching on top of things.

One day, at the end of the school year during concert band season, things came full circle as we packed up and traveled to every nearby elementary school to perform for the fifth graders—including my old alma mater, Elvin Hill Elementary School. I then had the opportunity to deliver the same experience to those young, impressionable students with the hopes that they might also join and continue the band program.

Now, with my band years far behind me, I continue to take pleasure in enjoying music with it being one of my greatest hobbies and every time I watch a concert band or marching band perform I know firsthand what it takes to make those shows possible.