I have been part of the Wisconsin State FFA Honors Band for 3 years now, ever since my sophomore year of high school. It was a great first year, and I met some pretty awesome people. It took until my second year when we became closer as a group and started communicating and hanging out with each other more often besides State Convention in June and the fair in August. The group consists of 9 people (including me): Tyler, Trevor, Colleen, Kollin, Maddie, Justin, Leah and Alec. My third year was not quite as awesome, because half of the group was gone. Tyler's fourth year was my second year, and for some reason Kollin never showed up after applying and being accepted again, Colleen had school stuff going on, I think, Maddie ended up being stuck with work stuff, Justin got tied down with basic training, and so it left me, Alec, Trevor and Leah for my third year. I'm not saying I didn't have a lot of fun, because I did, it just wasn't the same with all those people gone. And now, I wish I didn't have to say this, but something tells me I'm the only one in the group that applied again this year. It's my final year, like I indicated earlier, but I've got a pretty good feeling that no one else applied for it. I mean, there are a few friends that MAY have applied again, but I'm not putting faith in it.
This may seem nerdy, but it'll make me feel better to put it out this way. These are some reasons why I think no one else (besides the previous fourth years who no longer qualify anyway) has applied:
Justin: He is involved with the National Guard (I think) and missed it last year because of basic training, and I'm not too sure he's gonna have time for State Band this summer either.
Kollin: He's really jumpy with availability. Leah apparently helped him fill out his application last year and helped him get accepted again, but he ended up not even coming anyway for God knows what reason why, so I'm not expecting to hear that he applied.
Maddie: She's a maybe. She's got work, and probably other family things, and I'm like, eh, she's probably one of the better possibilities of coming back.
Leah: I know for a fact she isn't coming back. She's got work going, college, and all understandable reasons. Life gets busy at this point in time, and I'm just lucky I don't have as much shit going on as some college kids do right now. I'm not mad, just a little saddened.
Colleen: I wish I could say she was maybe coming, but she said it all depends on summer classes, and that tells me it's probably gonna be a no, unless she miraculously gets time to do band.
Those are the people that could still apply for it but probably didn't. Although, now that I think about it, I wonder how old Colleen and Maddie are, since they're both sophomores in high school, as well as Justin and Kollin. you can be in the State FFA Honors Band for either 4 years or until you're 21, whichever comes first. I have no idea if those people are that age yet, but I'm sure they're pretty close. If anything, I'd be guessing that maybe Maddie and Justin will be back, and possibly Colleen. I'd like to think Kollin would be too, but I just don't know.
I guess we'll find out the real answers when the official roster comes in a few months' time.
