the band room

Adam Szafarz
Aug 24, 2017 · 2 min read

The band room. A mid sized room with a loud roof, somewhat clean floors, and walls that left your hand grey with dust when you touched them. A big white board. Bigger than any band director would ever need, and a tiny office with a sink in it. I’ll never really understand that room but any emotion you could possibly think of, i’ve felt there. The place where I have hit every wall but still enjoyed every moment. Spending finite time with my best friends before they went to different states for college. To see them moving on to something better feels weird because im so accustomed to them. I guess humans are really creatures of habit. Sitting in the band room is when I first met my best friend oliver. We sat next to each other. I hated him. He hated me. Every day was another glare at the other. Until we just gave up. It was over a multiplayer match in advanced warfare that I decided to ask him if he wanted to hang out. We went to buffalo wild wings that night. Being the introverted person I am, it felt weird being so comfortable around someone who I barely knew. Surprising enough, him and I got along very well together. That room played a major role in the start of our friendship considering we were forced to sit next to each other in it for 3 years. Band is sometimes a mental struggle but it’s better to suffer with someone. For 3 summers I spent 9 hours a day with him monday-thursday. For 3 school years I sat next to him in the same seat on the left side of the band room. Oliver and I could talk about everything and nothing. That room 3 years later was the last place that he and I ever performed together. I enjoyed it more than any performance before. Despite its many imperfections, this room has value to me and i’m grateful for the experiences I had while inside those big wooden doors.

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