Doug, Take Your Own Advice

Back in April and August, I wrote about planning for this fall season during a global pandemic. It all sounded like great advice. I was really happy with the information I gathered and the thought I put into trying to help all of us deal with the hand we were being dealt.

Fast forward to October. I’m finishing up my fall season with the university marching band. My real job. I’ve had to remind myself several times a day that I’m teaching during a “Global Pandemic”. Things are not going to look, sound, or feel like they “normally” do. On a sidenote…..What is normal anyway? Not only am I teaching during a global pandemic, but the band members are trying to go to college during a global pandemic and do band at the same time. Who has the harder job, really? They do! By far!!

This really came to light for me as we have been preparing material for video recording. Because of our league’s Covid protocols, we are not allowed to perform in the stadium for home games, so we have been preparing stand alone segments for video and I had completed each design for a set number of performers. This is the way all do this, right? Well, that number I wrote for and the number of performers present in rehearsal didn’t exactly line up. Where did these performers go? Why is the number of performers I designed for not showing up in rehearsal? What was I going to do about it? The answer is clear. They are not showing up.because they are trying to go to college and do band at the same time during a global pandemic. Duh!

I was seeing the forms from up on high. I was counting members. I was causing myself a lot of stress. Then I remembered what I had written back in the spring. “Be flexible”. I took a deep breath and just decided we had to try and finish what we (I) had started and not beat ourselves (myself) up for it. We (I) had been lucky to have marching band AT ALL. The students and the program are benefiting from what we (I) have done this fall. Does it look exactly the way it did in my head? No. I had to listen to my own words. Once I allowed myself to do that, the stress started melting away.

We’ll finish with our goals for the season over the next week and a half and that will be great. I just had to take my own advice to keep myself together, that’s all.—DB