Newbies

So, it was the first day of band camp. New people, new drumline, new section leader...new director. Although he was a nice guy, he was a threat to the drumline. The strict rules and high expectations differed greatly from the lax authority that allowed the drumline to goof around and do as they pleased. We were given a percussion instructor to keep us on track, but he was not respected by the line. His corny and terrible sense of humor and tall, lanky physique contrasted a lot with the sexual humor of the boys on the line and their short muscular body types.

I have to say, I was rather happy that the drumline was being forced to work and I hoped that the new director would be able to kick them off of their high horses and shrink their egos a bit. This did not happen. Instead, their was a constant struggle between the two forces that tore a rift in the band as they fought for independence, and the new director tried to gain a hold of the line. Being sympathetic to the new director, I tried to maintain some semblance of peace and understanding between the two, but that proved harder than I thought.

I became the go-to girl for both sides and was soon dragged into the middle of a battlefield. It didn't help that the former section was now the drum major and was trying to knock down the new director from the top as the line tried from the bottom...it was going to be a long year.