Since 6th grade, sophomore Nat Smith has fallen in love with her first instrument: the French Horn. Witnessing the marching band for the first time, she realized that this was her passion. But as soon as she started high school, the dream of continuing had to pause for a while. 

“I joined band in 6th grade when we had to choose our instrument,” Nat said. “And I immediately gravitated towards the French Horn because it had such a pretty sound and I knew that a lot of people weren’t going to choose it. Once I saw marching band in 8th grade, I was like ‘I want to do this, this looks so fun.’ Unfortunately, when I was in my freshman year, Covid hit and I wasn’t able to join the band. I could tell that resulted in a loss of personality for me. [It was] like there was something I was missing in my life.”

Nat felt like she had lost a large part of her life, and also no longer had the opportunity to get closer with her band friends.

“[When Covid cancelled band, I most missed my] life with people that supported me and [when] we all have something in common that we’re all working towards,” Nat said.

Although being in the marching band was her ambition, that doesn’t mean everything came easily to her. Especially when Nat learned to play her first instrument, there were some things that took her a lot of practice and hard work.

“I’m terrible at memorizing songs,” Nat said. “I can’t get the fingerings down, I can’t get the right notes, and I can’t get the rhythm right. It took me the longest time and multiple practice sessions by myself just to work at [those things]. That’s the only part I don’t like because that’s the only part I don’t get help [with]. I have to recognize what I’m doing wrong.”

Nat has also developed the motivation to teach herself how to notice and fix her mistakes. She has dedicated her time to keep on practicing in order to improve. She works on this by doing a daily routine with her instrument. Where it becomes a way to cope with the strain of her passion.

“I would take some time out of my day to practice the mellophone,” Nat said. “I would also look up random songs online and run through them. [I also] work on the songs for the show [so that I can] commit them to memory.”

Being a member of a band has also taught her that learning can be an enjoyable experience. She has figured out what contrasts her band class and her other classes.

“People are really extra in [the] band,” Nat said. “There [are] so many fun stories that I have. For most classes, we have to focus and study on that topic, but for band, we talk a lot about different things. It’s not just music theory. [We just say things like], ‘Oh my gosh, this happened,’ or ‘Here’s this random thought I had.’ That is so fun.”

As Nat goes through her time in band, she has learned that success is all about the way you think about things. Nat’s positive mindset has been the key to her growth in band and with her instrument.

“Just keep at [your craft]; don’t worry about it too much. Don’t stress over [things] like, ‘I’m not going to be able to do this,’ [because] then you won’t be able to do [it]. That’s the wrong mindset. Just make sure you have a positive mindset and keep practicing. Things just don’t happen overnight.”