The 2024–2025 school year is Westview’s first ever year with a senior class, meaning it’s the first time for many different experiences. On September 28, Westview Band and Color guard participated in their first competition of the year. This was the first competition ever for the freshmen, and the start of the seniors last season as a part of Westview’s band.
It’s been a long road for the seniors to get where they are. A large majority of the seniors at Westview spent their freshman year at Burke High.
“Switching schools was really scary. I was worried I wasn’t going to get the same experience [with band], because I had a really good time at Burke with my Burke people, and I got to know the band directors there really well and I knew the percussion section well.” Brooklynn Pierce, a senior and the captain of Westview’s percussions, said.
Transferring from a long-standing band program to a clean slate at Westview also caused some stress, with the now-seniors having to step up and become the upperclassman, despite only being sophomores at the time.
“It was definitely a really big change, because I had to step up into my role here because I was the most experienced,” Nellie Schneider, the captain of color guard, said.
Both Pierce and Schneider have held their respective captain positions since their sophomore year, filling roles usually reserved for upperclassmen only. Seniors were expected to take large strides to meet their new expectations as school leaders and be someone the underclassmen could go to for help.
“I think the weirdest thing has been adjusting to the fact that the people are looking towards me for answers, and I don’t even know what’s going on half the time,” Pierce said.
Each year as more classes have filled the school, both the responsibilities and expectations for seniors have risen.
“Every year it’s gotten harder because the band is getting bigger and its harder to make sure everything is working smoothly, you know, because there’s so many people, we just keep getting bigger and better. It’s a little more stressful and a little more pressure,” Pierce said.
As each new class has moved into the school, the seniors have also worked to make it easier for new students to adjust to the environment compared to when the school opened.
“The way that we structure a lot of things helps make newbies more comfortable in the band, and that’s what I cared about a lot too when I met the freshmen in my section […] Building this culture over the last few years has really helped with making the freshmen feel welcome,” Pierce said.
Having a more solidified culture for band has also helped with performance. Coming from an established program like Burke, changing to a brand new program and building the culture was a big change, and according to Pierce, a learning process. Now, with a more solid program, it’s changed.
“Now I feel like we’re kind of in that place where it’s less like of learning and more of, okay, we know how a band competition works, we know how band camp works, it’s less of that learning process,” Pierce said.
Without having to worry about how the band should behave or act, they’ve had more time to focus on their performance. Over the past three years, this has allowed them to improve and gain more confidence in themselves.
“Mistakes that we made— if we had made the same mistakes that we have this year our first year we would have never come back from it the way that we do now. We all just bounce back. It’s a different kind of improvement.” Pierce said.
As the competition season continues, Westview’s band is looking forward to seeing not only their show, but other bands.
“I always look forward to seeing everyone’s shows come together and seeing what they’ve all worked towards,” Schneider said.
As their last year in the role of captains for band, both Schneider and Pierce have their own advice. First for future freshmen, or anyone looking to join band.
“Try it, and if you don’t like it that’s okay, but I would say it’s definitely a different experience, and it helps you make friends,” Schneider said.
They also left advice for their current band members.
“Even if you think you suck, you don’t, like, you’re doing a good job. I know all the people in this band and I know that they’re doing great things and I see it everyday and I hear it everyday. Prove to me that this band is going to be crazy good in the future,” Pierce said.