There are few things I love more than watching a really great marching band. This past weekend, I had the chance to see the world championships for the best of the best – Drum Corps International.  My son and I traveled to Indianapolis on Saturday to see the top 12 corps compete for the gold medal. Each time I see these 14 to 22-year-olds perform at the peak of their abilities, I am invariably moved to tears. This year it also made me reflect on what these these young people will take into their adult careers from their experiences.

For most jobs in life there is very little glamour and lots more sweat and toil. DCI participants practice 10 hours a day in the blazing sun, live on a bus, and sleep on high school gym floors all summer for no pay — all to create a seamless 10-minute performance worthy of a medal that most don’t receive. In their careers, these young people will understand the value of extremely hard work toward a goal that may not come to fruition.

Individual performance is critical to the overall team, even though one person’s effort may be indiscernible from another. Drum Corps is all about each individual’s highest level of performance, but when done correctly no one person stands out above another. There are solo performances, but even those artists are dressed in the same uniform as his/her teammates and once they return to the line, they look just like every other player. In the work environment, these young people will know the intrinsic value of working their hardest, sometimes in relative obscurity.

Sometimes the hardest things to attain can also be the most prized. Despite the incredible effort and time that each drum corps member puts in, at the end of the summer, most players choose to return the following year. I have a friend who was in a corps and he said the first month he called home every day and his mom thought she was going to have to go pick him up to come home.  Now he counts this as one of the more important experiences of his life. Working through the tough times and resisting the desire to quit are feelings that most people have to deal with at one time or another. Knowing how to tough it out is invaluable.

The drum corps have disbanded and gone home to their junior highs, high schools and colleges until next spring. But look for me on the sidelines again next year, teary with the thrill of the art, the passion of the young people and the promise of their futures.

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