Williams Receives Brooke Pope Memorial Scholarship
Logan Williams is the recipient for the Brooke Pope Memorial Scholarship for the Class of 2025. Logan's essay was selected as the winner for the scholarship Brooke Pope was a four-year member of the Bobcat Band, who lost her life in the "Cars for Kids" tragedy in 2007. The scholarship was established in her memory and is given to a band senior each year. Below is Logan's winning essay...
Being in the band has taught me how to manage people and time. While being out on the band field, if you lack your responsibilities it affects everyone. Also, I have learned how to encourage discipline and a strong work ethic in myself. Continually learning how to play music has fostered a lifelong appreciation and passion that keeps me learning more about myself. Staying in the band has affected my life in several positive ways and it continues to help me grow as a person.
The culture of the band every year is a big deal. If the culture is not welcoming and helpful to all members then the band would fall apart. The directors and the students have to uphold the culture and let it naturally grow. It is everyone's job to be a good example of a hard working artist. Band is more than just playing an instrument while walking, it is an art that continually evolves, and it is the students job to promote that growth and teach it to the younger people. Maturing in that culture is realizing how special being in the band is and it is something that everyone can be proud of.
The more experience I had in the band, the more people looked to me for guidance. People would ask me questions or just follow me when the instructions for the day were unclear, so it was my job to lead people who were four to five years younger. I learned how to have patience, how to pick my battles, and how to communicate with people that I had very little in common with. It was especially hard to relate with people after the long, tiring practices. After several years of people looking to you for guidance, you learn how to manage the people around you to grow the culture.
If you got to practice when it started, you were late. Band practice starts thirty minutes before the aforementioned time because that is how long it takes to get set up to have practice. Everyone has to have a strong strength of will for the band to grow continually. If only one person is late, it sets the band back. Anyone who is late has to go learn whatever they missed, which nurtures responsibility in everyone.
My intense work ethic is directly tied to being in the band. Having to tirelessly work for months every year has encouraged a strong work ethic that I am proud to have. At every job I have done after joining the band, I saw how the band has affected my life for the better. I am keen to help my community, because I have seen how doing small amounts of physical activity can enable people to grow. Also, the band has taught me the importance of stretching and staying physically fit. I hurt myself multiple times picking up heavy items, which taught me how to properly do physical activities. Also, if you are a part of a group where you all do physical activities, and you are not fit, you bring everyone else down. A group is only as strong as its weakest person.
Most of my friendships have started because I was in the band. Being with the same people for hours every day of the week while working for a common goal can breed amazing friendships and catastrophe. One of the most important skills I have learned is when and how to apologize to someone. It is hard to admit you made a mistake, but it is necessary when you work with a group. There have been a countless number of times where I was completely wrong and I had to learn that instead of doubling down and continuing making the same mistake I had to admit to myself I was wrong and change.
The most significant part of being in the band is having the opportunity to work on a piece of art that will never be done that way again. No matter how many bands do the same show, it will never sound or look like the show we put on. Every performance is individual. Every year, the people are unique, and it changes the performance drastically.