A Weekend at MSU

By: Isabel Weatherhead

“Rah! Rah! Rah!”

This shout is part of Michigan State University’s fight song, “Victory for MSU”. It is also a part of my high school’s fight song, conveniently adopted from the Spartans. One of the first times I heard this song was when I learned the pregame routine in my high school’s marching band. I learned this song with some of my best friends. This past weekend, I got to share the field with those same friends, but this time with different fight songs. Despite being rivals on the football field during the game, we are still united on the marching band and football fields.

The weekend started quickly and passed in a blur. Travelling with the Purdue “All-American” Marching Band is always an experience due to moving 400 bodies, coordinating a homestay, practice, and performance facilities, and let’s not forget ordering around 1200 meals total (Subway, Firehouse Subs, and KFC — all delicious). Once on the road, four to five hours were spent talking to friends, singing along to some jams provided by a playlist used for the Purdue University Winterguard during our trips, and preparing for a performance at Okemos High School.

Upon arrival, we were greeted with some of the most polite and enthusiastic marching band members and parents. They fed us and were extremely welcoming: allowing us to store instruments and equipment while also providing beds in their own homes for us to stay in. Homestay members of the AAMB presented hosts with a gift and thank you notes. My room buddy and I gifted a small plush Purdue Pete. Trumpet members gave a Purdue football, and a daughter of the host had asked them to sign it for her. We all show up for the love of music and for the love of football, and these things unite us in more ways than we know.

That night at Okemos High School, the AAMB and the Okemos High School Chieftain Marching Band put on performances of their respective pregame shows, halftime shows, and cadences. The Chieftains performed Journey’s hit, “Don’t Stop Believing”, and we could not help but sing along. It was a moment of pure happiness and an outpouring of encouragement. The atmosphere of people supporting people doing what they love is one of the main reasons marching band is so important to me. All of your effort goes into an activity that brings a smile to your face and to the faces of others. Doing a joint performance of a couple of songs and eventually their series and our cadences was so fun. Experiences like this were what motivated me to pursue color guard in college. I hope some Okemos students were inspired as well.

Game Day followed. It was cold. The Boilermakers lost. Although the outcome of the game was less than ideal, the band was energetic. We were on the sideline the entire game playing stands tunes and cheering, not only for the football team but for the Spartan Marching Band when they were on the field.

It’s activities like football and marching band that unite all of us. In the end, the score does not matter. It is the experience. The hope your team will come out on top. The feeling of pride when you see your best friend in the rival marching band playing “Hail, Purdue!” on her mellophone. The love you have for others when they carry on the “Cancer Sucks” cheer at kickoff for your team’s honorary captain. Forget the score.