Personal Narrative: My Middle School Years

On Wednesday, the 18th of May, I attended and participated in the Final Band Concert of the year. Throughout the year, all band students continually practice pieces and the Final Band Concert is the only concert to have every band student in it from fifth grade all the way up to twelfth. This concert is always very special because it is both the first large concert for the fifth graders and the last for many students. The concert started from the Fifth Grade Band, then to the Junior 6th Grade, Advanced 7th and 8th Grade band, and finally to the High School Concert Band. The concert began exactly on time at 19:00.

At Marcus High School, I stayed involved heavily with band and drumline. These extracurriculars demanded immense time management and a sharp level of focus. During sophomore, junior and senior years, I was able to join the student leadership corps and become the leader of the Snareline, an instrument that requires high concentration in comparison to the rest of the band. I was tasked with making sure the incoming students understood their music, and if unable, I taught them. This position led me to become an understanding leader with the desire for greatness.

As a student, I strive for excellence. In middle school, I was a member of the National Junior Honor Society at Strong Foundations Charter School. As a sophomore, I have taken two math classes and gone without a study hall to be able to fulfill my academic desires. I have also taken Honors level classes since my first semester of high school and continuously make the honor roll. I aim to continue to take honors and AP classes to be able to reach my full potential as a student.

Spain Elementary/Middle School in Detroit is facing an issue of missing a musician teacher. As shown in the video, “Life Inside Detroit Public Schools” the school has all the necessary accessories to have a music class or even a legitimate band. Even though it’s an extracurricular, developing student’s early interests is beneficial for youth’s future. “Being on a team, in an orchestra, or in the cast of a play typically involves being a member of a general category (e.g., soccer player, percussionist), and participants are typically given specific roles to fulfill. These experiences promote the values of universalism and specificity (respectively).”

Every person has an interest or a talent which separates them from the rest of society allowing them to become an individual. It wasn’t until I decided to audition for the North Carolina Elementary Honors Chorus in 2009 that I discovered my talents lie within the realm of music. Becoming an active musician has not only helped me grow as a person by allowing me to build and strengthen social and cognitive skills, but has also helped me to appreciate each component of music, and has also taught me how to become a supportive and attentive member of the audience. That fateful day in the fall of 2009 when I heard that I was one out of one hundred and six students to make it into the North Carolina Elementary Honors Chorus was the day I realized that I had a passion for choir and for music. After that I continued to stay in choir in middle school, and eventually made it into Middle School Honors Chorus in 2013.

Kaitlyn Hatchett Mr. Bergmann Senior English P5 28 August 2015 The Benefits of Participating in High School Band High school band is often looked upon as an activity where a bunch of nerds get in big, bulky, sweaty uniforms and walk around the football field during halftime all the while playing music that they have memorized. Although this is 99.9% true, marching band is much more than that and if you think about what was just stated, that takes a lot of time, effort, and dedication. Marching band provides students with life lessons and skills that can never be forgotten. There are some major “plus factors” of being a part of a high school band such as: students get to be around other students that they normally would not associate with,

I meet ambassadors from around the world, and I was able to speak with amazing musicians and performers. While in Hawaii, I snorkeled in Hanauma Bay, hiked Diamond Head volcano, and visited Pearl Harbor. I will never forget the friendships that I forged all because of music. I began as a naïve middle schooler and transformed myself into a confident performer and student. I now carry a sense of pride because I finally completed my dream.

I felt as if I should have stayed in middle school. I did not feel that I fit in with the rest of my peers not physically or mentally, aside from maturing I needed to work on getting fully comfortable with myself before I would be able to expose myself to others. You are so much more to me than just my mom, you are my best friend. Mom you are the

However, I would like to concentrate on a rather unsuspecting part of my schooling as having the highest impact: my junior high music teacher. Amidst my life fixated on textbook education, she forced me to never be complacent, to hold high behavioral standards, and to passionately pursue the flighty sparks of inspiration. My instructor,

By the end of fifth grade, I thought that I had figured out how other kids thought and acted. Believing that every person would accept you no matter what or that the worst of your problems was that the kid who sits behind you doesn’t feel like playing kickball at recess. Or how we didn’t have to care about how we looked because we wore uniforms everyday. And if we wanted to "express ourselves" then we could just say it out loud. I thought middle school was going to be a breeze

Since sixth grade I have had some sort of honors every marking period. In eighth grade, my first year at malvern, I was inducted into the National Junior Honors Society.

When I first walked into Freedom Middle School, there were a lot of clubs to choose from. I just couldn’t make up my mind. Then I caught sight of the orchestra room. It was full of interesting instruments, and enthusiastic hominids, like me, ready to learn. At first I assumed it was not the correct choice for me, but then I got a feel for it and realized how inspiring and life eventful it is.

In the duration of my middle school years, I maintained excellent grades, except I had just one issue that held me back from a satisfying life. That issue was the fact that friends came very hard to me in my middle school years. Before my struggles at my middle school, Trafton, I had a very productive social life in the Elementary school I attended, Roberts Elementary. Here, it was very easy to make friends and have a great social life, since no hard work was required as a kid. Middle school, however, was a great challenge for me.

My achievements in the music program gave me a sense of accomplishment, and kept me engaged in school. I consider myself more intellectually and emotionally developed than my peers because being involved in the music program gave me empathy towards other cultures. Because of the music program, my self esteem increased, and my

I enrolled in chorus class at the end of 8th grade thinking that it was just going to be a boring music class that was required to graduate. I haven’t been in a chorus class since I was in 3rd grade. By the end it was one of the most enjoyable class i’ve taken this year. It was a happy environment where you can be yourself, and have fun. I took a lot of things away from this course, and made a lot of memories.