ISABEL BERGE

Picture this; You’re at the football team and you’re getting ready for one of your weekly friday night games. You’ve been practicing for hours practically every day for the past weeks. Some nerves are present, but you feel ready and excited. The bleechers are filled up with cheery students and supportive teachers. The setting is perfect. You end up doing an amazing job on the field. Everyone is cheering you on. The crowd is happy, you’re happy.

 

Now picture this; You’re standing behind the stage of the Cal Poly Performing Arts Centre with your instrument and the rest of the band, getting ready for the annual Winter Concert. The melodies sound perfect after all the hard work you’ve been doing ever since school started in August. You’ve been rehearsing for months! You walk out on stage with butterflies in your stomach, to then notice how only families and some loyal friends have shown up. You play all your parts perfectly, so does the rest of the band. The symphonies are magical, but who will ever know?

 

Why is this, you wonder? Band has practiced just as much as the football team, some even harder. They’re both, or should have been, big parts of the school spirit, however, they’re not. The football home games are announced over the bulletin every day for the entire week. Every single football game played at MBHS is, yet the bigger band and choir concerts, that they’ve been working on for months, are not!

 

I went to most of the football games this fall and the bleachers we’re always stuffed with people. It seemed like half the school had showed up. We we’re sitting there in the chilly foggy night, freezing our butts off, but still having a good time.

 I also went to the band and the choir concerts before christmas, and the story was something quite different. Very few people had showed up, and pretty much all of them were either parents or siblings of members in band and choir. It was a sad sight to see, especially considering how well they did. It’s just sad to me to know how few students got to hear band play and choir sing.

 

Don’t get me wrong, I like the football games, and I like that a lot of the students and teachers at the school takes some time off their friday nights to support the team and celebrate school spirit. As I already said, I went to pretty much all the games and had a great time there. I understand that Football and other athletics are a big part of this school, as well as most other American high schools. I don’t mind focusing on sports and I don’t think it’s wrong that we do. I just think we need to spread our focus more. Other classes, clubs and teams work just as hard, and deserve just as much attention and approval as the football team does. It wouldn’t take much effort at all to start announcing concerts and performances over the bulletin a week or two before an event, and give reminders throughout the week, or even hang up some posters around campus. I say, next time a concert is coming up, get people aware of it, and students who hear about it, go! It is worth it!