Change is often necessary to reach the goals one hopes to achieve, and that is why I am so grateful for the change that being drum captain has brought to me. When I first decided to tryout for the position of “percussion captain”, I honestly just saw it as an award, and the day I got the phone call saying I was chosen to fill the position for the next year, I thought all of my hard work had finally paid off. Little did I know, the real work was just beginning. To the naked eye, percussion captain simply tells the drumline what to do, represents the band during awards, and gets their name announced before performances, but I soon came to find there were many “behind the scenes” duties that meant so much more. “You are a servant-leader. You do as the people need,” my director said on our first day on the job. At the time, I had no clue what that meant, but as my band mates began to shuffle in on that early July morning, I began to understand. As percussion captain, I had 29 of my peers now coming to me for all of the answers and for solutions to all of their problems. I had to know where to be, what to wear, and when to be there. I was the one to adjust their pants for them if they were too short, repair their instruments if they broke a head, and teach them their music if necessary.This taught me how…show more content… Being a leader is not about being a narcissistic dictator, as I had previously envisioned. It is about working for your followers and helping them push past their boundaries. Being drum captain was the opportunity of a lifetime, and I could never express how grateful I am that I got the chance to grow as I did. The directors and musicians I got the pleasure to work with helped me gain confidence in myself and in my knowledge, and this newfound confidence has helped me change for the better in work, at home, and in
