Senior Night

Last night, UNCG honored the men who were playing their last home game as Spartans. It just so happened to be a night that I made it to the Coliseum early, and I caught the celebration of those six players in front of a sadly mostly empty arena. I was pleased, though, that the celebration did not end with the senior basketball players. Immediately following, the senior members of the pep band, cheerleading squad, and dance team were also invited to center court to celebrate their years of service.

Senior night--even before I realized they were going to honor the pep band as well--took me back to my final home game behind the drumset at UMBC. It was the end of a four year period--longer, even, than my time with the Alexis I. duPont High School Tiger Marching Band--of engagement and leadership that was a huge part of my undergraduate career. It was tough when undergrad came to an end and I finally had to give up that key.

As fate would have it, towards the end of that last home game, I broke our bass drum head. Don't know how, I was just playing and boom. Kick pedal straight through it. Admittedly, it felt incredibly badass.  And in TO fashion, I signed it and hung it in the pep band room (read: storage closet) and if theol' unit has any sense of history, it still exists somewhere.