Assignment 19- Angelica Malkowski

I always find this question difficult to answer. Sure, I've received advice in my life, but I usually don't remember any of it. Maybe that just means I haven't received any life changing advice yet. Or maybe I just don't have the best memory for this sort of thing. Either way, figuring out what advice to talk about is always difficult, but here goes.
When I was in 8th grade, I knew I wanted to continue band in high school. I of course had no idea band would have such a monumental affect on my life, but I knew I liked it and wanted to continue it. But I was unsure about marching band. I wasn't worried about the physical aspect (sports had always been a part of my life in some way). But I knew I would need to learn a new instrument, since you can't march oboe, and I was worried about the heavy involvement marching band entails, and how that would impact my studies. School was - and is - very important to me, and if being in marching band meant maintaining straight A's would be too difficult, I wouldn't do marching band. So at a new member orientation, I talked to some high school students about the difficulty of balancing school and marching band, and specifically asked some kids in the academy. Some of what I heard wasn't very promising. One girl said she received her first C due to the stress of marching band and the academy. I was not going to let that happen. Then there was the issue of a new instrument. Having already tried - and failed- at flute in 7th grade, I decided if I marched, I would march clarinet because it was still a woodwind, and I sort of liked it. But I still wasn't sure. So I talked to my mom about it. While she was never in marching band, she was in band and orchestra, and therefore understand the wonderfulness of music. She told me to try out marching band my freshman year, and if I didn't like it, I could always not do it again. But if I didn't join my freshman year, and then decided to do it later and discover I enjoyed it, I would regret not doing it that first year. Really freshman year is the best year to do marching band because your school load is (theoretically) the lightest it'll be all four years, and being part of such a large group and having all that support before school even starts your freshman year is super helpful.
So, needless to say, I went with my mom's advice and joined marching band. Not only was I able to keep my record of straight A's like I hoped, but I also fell completely in love with marching band. It honestly changed my life. I am so, so glad I'm in marching band, and my mom was right: I definitely would've regretted not doing marching band my freshman year.