January 7th, 2007

Since I was in junior high school (2001), I join the marching band in my school. It’s a well known band in my country, and already achieve quite a lot. The name is Putri Santa Ursula Marching Brass (PSUMB) [Putri = girl. The band is all-girls]. My first months there was a very tiring one, because we all trained physically. I’m not an athletic type, so I’m having quite hard times. But then when I become a senior, I join the percussion section, as I want. Furthermore, I join snare drum team. [Marching snare drum looks like the ordinary snare drum in the drum set, but bigger in size and different sound].

My life in marching brass was not a good one, I have to admit. It was very tiring all the time, and not all my teammates (at percussion) are good people. For example, I had one f**kin stupid senior who always think she’s the best player in the team. In fact, she’s the one who crash our tempo…what da ****?!

It’s getting slightly better in 2004. That year, we decided to compete in the national competition, Grand Prix Marching Band. It was very exciting since it’s my first time. But, the physical fatigue is getting worse since we have to walk and form displays while we playing all the instrument. (Fyi, my instument’s weigh at least 12kg…very heavy…). The senior I was talking about is getting more sh*t but it wasn’t a big problem. We were so excited!

When the day comes, the tension is unbelievable. All the students from the school gather as audience, singing and shouting our anthem. It was AMAZING! Definitely unforgettable. We got quite good result, 2nd place in school division. But unfortunately for us, the percussion line only got the 4th place. That means we didn’t get the trophy. Well, it should be okay…but the problem is, our head coach is a horn line person. He sometimes really angry with us, the percussion line, which, according to him, is a lazy yet useless section.

Then, it came back to normal marching band life, until 2006. That period of time, I became one of the section leaders, one of marching maneuvering staff (the one who responsible for the movement in the field), and a staff [it's like a main committee] in instrument & equipment division. Wew, that’s responsibility. As a maincomm, I have to keep track on every percussion instrument details. As a section leader, I have to help control the music of my section. It was absolutely exhausting…especially when it’s decided that we will compete again in January 2007…yay!

One more thing, at that time I was really busy taking course to prepare NTU entrance examination. There’s tryouts almost everyday and hours of lessons.

The grand prix days were 6th and 7th of January. Since Jan 5th, we already stay at the school all together. Well, it was very exciting, but also tiring especially for us the maincomms. We have to maintain the spirit, the mood of every member. At the same time, we have to help prepare everything for the day. For me that means the instrument maintenance. It was very stressful since one of a percussion member lost her sticks cover, and I tear one of the drum membranes accidentally. Oh man…that really push my nerve to it’s maximum point. But thank God, at the end everything were ok. We found the lost cover in one of the boxes and a very helpful parent bought another membrane.

Finally, SHOW TIME! Stress seems not done with us yet. One of our percussion member fell in the first song. Once again, thank God she’s really good. She got up quickly and keep playing while holding the pain in her foot. Unbelievable, and it pumped our spirit. It was a very emotional show for me and all the members in my badge, because it’s our last competition. We will never gonna feel the same atmosphere again.

Jan 7th, 2007. After all the judges deliberate, it’s time for the result show. As a maincomm, I have to attend the event in the field. If we won a trophy, one of us will go and receive it.
The tension was high. All of us from percussion section really really hope that we will get a trophy. Even if that’s the 3rd place. We really want to prove that we’re good.
We got several trophies that night, including the “Best Costume” trophy, which was really unpredictable.

Then it’s time to announce the percussion line music analysis.
All percussion member in the maincomms were absolutely nervous. At last, the screen shows the result, and WE GOT THE 2ND PLACE! Wow! We even never expect that! And the coolest thing is, my commander look at us in the back and order me to receive the trophy. OH MY GOD…that was an honour, definitely.

All the percussion members in the audience shouting and crying happily. I cannot believe that the trophy is truly belong to us until the GPMB committee hand over the trophy to me. I kissed it, and lift the trophy happily.

That was absolutely an amazing moment.

Absolutely.

Definitely one of my istanbuls.

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