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Kailyn Thomas
Dr. Guenzel
ENC 1101H
30 September 2016
How Did Music Get Me a 4.7 GPA?
I have practice until 8 PM and then an essay to write for Human Geography that I need to
start since I have a football game Friday and a competition Saturday, my brother, Connor, listed
off his responsibilities as he headed out the door at 6:30 AM on a Thursday, drumsticks, duffle
bag and backpack in hand. Connor is a freshman in high school, and new to the idea of
extracurricular activities, especially one such as band that requires so much time. I remember
going through the same thing, for over four years to be exact. As an outsider looking in, however,
the amount of work and effort one has to put into band on top of schoolwork and for some, a job,
is daunting.
My career as a musician began as a fifth grader. Guidance counselors gave us schedule sheets,
allowing us to choose our electives and I couldnt wait to take PE and Art, like many of my
peers. Imagine my surprise when I was placed in Beginning Band. I tried to get switched out but
my guidance counselors refused, and so I stayed. When I was first enrolled, my director at the
time, Mr. Kutylo, allowed us to sample all of the instruments and make a list of a few we hoped
to learn. My director was pushing me to play the French horn, an instrument that required a
strong ear and straight A student such as myself who could take the time out of their school work
to practice and become a proficient and dedicated player, since the intervals between pitches
were so close and the instrument was difficult to learn. Two weeks later, I was learning my first
scales in the beginning band and learning the ins and outs of an instrument I had never heard of.

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For the next two years, I continued to improve. My second director, Ms. Smith, placed me
into the highest middle school band, Symphonic. I met students older than me that had been in
band for longer who taught me how to practice and showed greater skill. My final year in middle
school, I was promoted to 1st chair. This meant that I had a harder piece of literature and solos to
practice daily. I continued to breeze through school, taking time out of my homework for band,
but never dipping below an A in any classes, something that would continue for my years in high
school. By the end of middle school, I had learned a new instrument and earned an award for
straight As all three years.
My freshman year of high school, I was invested in music and became more involved in the
high school band program, which required much more after school time. I joined the marching
band and learned how to play the mellophone, the marching equivalent of the French horn. The
marching band began practicing during the summer with band camp for three weeks, almost a
month before the rest of the school began. Most days, we practiced for 10+ hours, with short
breaks for lunch and dinner while I struggled to keep up with my online class, a requirement for
graduation. When school started, we cut our rehearsals back to 10 hours a week. On Friday
nights we had football games and half of our Saturdays were taken over by rehearsals or
competitions. Also, I enrolled in the jazz band to fill an empty period, learning trombone all on
my own with no help from either of my high school band directors, Mr. Steff or Mr. Brown. I
had to rely on the internet, my French horn skills, and practicing. They placed me in the bottom
concert band to play French horn since I was a freshman, a low level band class focusing on
strengthening the fundamentals and basics we had learned in middle school and applying them to
easy musical literature. This put me with a total of 3 instruments to practice and required after
school attendance, on top of my schoolwork. In addition, I was taking my first AP class.

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Although the class was the easiest AP class, I was learning the art of responsibility and timemanagement as a 9th grader and, to keep my straight A record, slacking on homework was not an
option. I learned how to focus in noisy and distracting environments, doing homework in the
band room before rehearsals and on the busses on the way to shows.
Towards the end of my freshman year, my high school band director, Mr. Brown, approached
me about auditioning for drum major to lead the band, conducting them on and off the field. As a
junior drum major, I would be in charge of the brass section and be placed on the back sideline to
serve as a human metronome when the band turned around. With 3 days to prepare, I memorized
my audition, a piece of music I had to conduct from memory in front of judges, and learned how
to conduct in different time signatures as well as prepared for a leadership interview. A week
after my audition, it was announced that I had received the position and I began my training. The
summer before my sophomore year, I met with the current drum majors periodically, and an
extra week and a half of band camp was added to my schedule, putting me at school a month and
a half before the rest of the student body while also taking Spanish 2 online.
As my sophomore year officially began and my marching band responsibilities continued, I
was enrolled in two AP classes, while placing into the highest concert band, the Wind Ensemble,
and continuing to play trombone in the jazz band. As a leader, I spent more time at band
rehearsals setting up, breaking down and solving disputes between band members, sometimes
even helping tutor them with their schoolwork. I also auditioned for the winter guard, learning to
dance and spin flag in the spring with 12+ hours of rehearsal a week and competitions on
Saturdays. Not to mention, I was gearing up for an automatic promotion from junior drum major

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to head drum major. My band directors, Mr. Brown and Mr. Molina, who had replaced Mr. Steff,
started pushing more responsibilities on me as the year went on.
My first year as the head drum major as a junior in high school, uncommon in the marching
band scene, was a whole new world. I was no longer in charge of just the brass section, but rather
the entire 200+ member marching band. My podium was on the 50, the front sideline, and came
with the keys to the entire kingdom. The show now relied on me, holding together all sections of
the band while still allowing the story to play out. This required more practice, memorizing the
show music and time signatures so that it ran smoothly, and learning to balance my new
responsibilities on top of my old. I was now in 3 AP classes, two concert bands, the top jazz
band, flag captain of the winter guard, head drum major of the marching band and playing in the
steel drum band, learning two new instruments in the process. Practicing was a must, on top of
the mounds of homework I now had and sleep was hard to come by. And yet, I still managed to
maintain my 4.7 GPA, also taking a veterinary assisting class during school to work towards my
career goals.
Senior year brought on a whole new definition of all work and no sleep. I began my first job
over the summer, a ranch hand position half an hour away that scheduled me during the week
and over the weekend, sometimes past midnight depending on the events we had going on. I had
also lost one of my band directors, Mr. Molina, when he transferred to a university, and received
a new one, Mr. Willis, that I was growing accustomed to. My class schedule increased to 4 AP
classes, two concert bands, two steel drum bands, and a jazz band. I was still the flag captain of
the winter guard and head drum major of the marching band, but I was done, ready to move on.

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As I finished high school and made plans for college, I left with a 4.7 GPA, a veterinary assistant
certification, and a full ride to UCF.
To some, band nerd is a derogatory term. But to me, it is a sign of strength and intelligence.
By taking part in band, I became a better student, able to balance college, work and friends while
keeping up my grades and lowering my stress levels. Today, I have two jobs and I am taking
mostly honors classes, but I dont feel overwhelmed. I have music and band to thank for that.