This past Sunday was MICCA Finals in Lowell,MA. It was my last one. I knew going into it that it would be a very long day. Between competing and helping the band parents serving food for everyone else. It all started at seven in the morning. My mother was nice and bought me Dunkins.
Source:Me
We reached Cawley Stadium at 7:30 and the fun began. I helped prepare the food. And trust me when I say this there was a lot of food. I had practice at 10 am, but silly me had forgotten his marching shoes. So I raced home and grabbed them. I even looked stressed out.
Source:Me
Source:Me
11:45 came around and Lowell High was going on at 12:15. We finished our warm ups and headed to OUR turf. Then we played our show. WE DIDN'T START THE FIRE/ PIANO MAN. MY LIFE/ ONLY THE GOOD DIE YOUNG. AIR. And finally JUST THE WAY YOU ARE. We finished our show and we went back to get changed except for a select few seniors. They got to go onto the field for the awards.
Source:Kunsophannaro Kang
It was good we got three stars in all of the categories, but ended the day with a bronze medal. It was after 2:30 when I finally got out of my uniform, and went helped the band parents with the food. Time just flew by. Soon it was 6:00 and the day was nearly done. When we finished we had a lot of garbage.
Source:Me
That was just the pizza boxes. We had a lot of left over drinks as well.
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Most of the drinks we sold, but not these. The day was almost complete. But we in the Lowell High band have an unusual tradition. To end the night we do what is called a field roll. What we do is get on of the goal lines, lie down like a log, and roll to the other goal line. When we get to the other goal line we have to get up and run back to the first goal line. It is truly a lot of fun. So that has ended my four year run with MICCA. It has been a great marching band year, and I am going to miss these days. I don't know what I will do with my life afterward. It has been so routine these past four years. I guess there would be an empty feeling. I don't know. It has been a fun four years, seeing that we could almost be state champions on Saturday Nov., 2nd at my last NESBA finals. That would be cool.
Saturday was one of the best days in the marching band season. It was the annual University of Massachusetts Amherst BAND DAY!! It took place at the one, the only Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, MA.
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With practice beginning at 10 am, I knew it would be a long day ahead of me. The theme for this year was the music from the 1971 movie Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. It was one of the best Band Days I have been to. Practice ended around 12:45 in the afternoon, with kickoff at 3:00 pm. By that point I was getting very, very hungry. I knew that there was a Five Guys Burgers and Fries up at Patriots Place. But when I got there, there was a line through the door. I only had a limited amount of time so I went across the mall and saw this place.
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I had two of the best slices of Buffalo Chicken Pizza ever. Fresh out of the oven. Oh, it was as Willy Wonka would say "scrumdiddlyumptious."
My lunch hour was over and it was now 1:45, I had fifteen minutes to get ready and get in line for the game.
Source:Me(This is me hurrying up because I was late.)
It was now 2 pm and the line to get in was huge, there were 3,000 band kids from every New England State and New York there just to play some music.
Source:Me(That is just 1/4 of the people waiting to get inside the stadium.)
I got inside and I had one of the best seats in the house.
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The game started and UMASS deferred to the second half.
The first quarter ended and it was almost time for the moment of glory. With only 7:35 seconds left in the half, the students made there way down to get ready to go on the field. The half ended and we all looked like mad men trying to get to our spots, then it all started.
Thanks to Jon DiPrima the man who took this video who I think took the best one. He has the right angle and everything. So thanks again Jon.
Halftime ended, and the game continued. UMASS won the game 17-10 against Miami(OH). And the day was almost complete. It wouldn't be a day if UMASS didn't do their traditional 5th Quarter performance. The show ended and they closed the way the close every show.
Thanks to the person who wasn't named on the youtube channel for taking this video. I have been going to Band Day for five years now, I cried when this came up, they were tears of joy and sadness, knowing it will be the last time I will see the band at Band Day, but also because of how much I have grown, knowing the traditions that the band has. This song shows closure, which I got on Saturday.My Way by Frank Sinatra, is always played at the end of their performances.
These past five years have been a blast, these are the memories I will take the grave. I knew when I heard this song, I was ending a part of high school, that I always loved.
