“This high school year started out a bit stressful. I feel like as a freshman it is hard to believe in yourself especially when you have to compete with older people. I feel it’s very important to remember that you are important and you need to believe in yourself. This was my experience in band because I am one of two freshman trombone players we have. I am the only girl trombone as well, and I got third chair which is very good, especially for my freshman year. It was very intimidating at first, because there’s a junior and senior who are phenomenal players and I thought that they would hate me. Now they are two of my closest band friends. They really encouraged me to step out of my comfort zone and to try new things. Which is why I auditioned for a district band this year. I didn’t think I would do district this year, because the chances of getting in as a freshman are slim, but they convinced me to do it, and I just found out that I got into the district band. I’m one of the two freshmen in Baldwin who got in. They also encouraged me to do scholars bowl, which sounds like a nerdy sport which it is, but it is very hard. I give them a lot of credit for knowing almost every answer. It’s very fun and it’s fairly relaxed. It was hard at first because I didn’t know what to expect and the questions are very hard, they’re like college level questions. I think it’s a good sport to do because it doesn’t take much time and you don’t have to come to every practice And it was a different experience coming out of volleyball, which they are really strict about you need to come to practice, which is god but it’s a lot different than scholar’s bowl. This year in volleyball I was co-team captain and I was so proud of my team, especially with two of the players who it was their first year playing. I was so proud to be their captain.”