Exhibit: Marching Band and Marching Band Chart

Benchmark: Teamwork/Communication

Skill: TC109: Make and/or follow a set of rules and procedures and TC110: Help other team members accomplish their tasks.

 

For the past four years I have marched and followed the strict guidelines of every single chart.  With being a rank leader I have to help everyone understand what they are doing, because to be honest the first marching chart you look at is just a jumbled bunch of letters.  We spent long days learning the rules we had to follow to make ourselves the best we could.  We marked parts and had long night practices.

 

Freshman year it started at band camp, we learned to march the basics and then made our way to the field.  That is when I was handed my first chart.  I had to (TC109) Make and/or follow a set of rules and procedures.  This was very obvious in the number of counts in a drill and positions on the field.  You always had to be on odd counts with you left foot or you would have to do everything all over again.  Everyone learns very quickly that you either do what is expected or get out.  If we were ever even a step off of your spot, we were verbally beaten until we understood what was needed.  We learned the correct step size in each and every situation and were expected to keep them exact and stay in line.  The rules, though very strict, were something that you were always expected to follow.  Now to this year I have helped create the dance for marching band; we all worked to create steps for each person to follow.   As I got older and I could follow these rules with ease and I expanded to (TC110) help other team members accomplish their tasks.  I have been a rank leader for the past two years and it has been my duty to teach my rank each and every move.  It started in band camp when my rank was assigned to me, and I used the ugly sticks to measure their step sizes.  I then taught them the simple mechanic of the box, more specifically an eight count box to the left.  It was the first difficult thing I learned and so it as the first thing I taught to everyone I trained.  After band camp we started marching on the field and that is where the real work begins.  I had to go through everyone in my rank and tell them where to go, how long it takes to get there, and what size steps to take.  I did this not only because I wanted them to be able to do it but also because I wanted the whole of our performance to be the best it could be.  I wanted our team to do the best it possibly could, and I feel like I helped in major ways to impact it. 

 

Rules and procedures are important and we should always strive to follow them, and by doing this we should always help members of your team succeed in their goals.  As an Art Director I will constantly set up things for people to do and make sure they follow procedure. This being said I always will have to follow the guidelines put down by my clients.  It will also be my job to help anyone under me accomplish their tasks if they need my help.  In the end as an Art Director it is my vision for what the client wants and, I have to lay down guidelines for everyone to follow. As a young adult I have been taught respect and been guided be these rules, and I realized that if I help people with their tasks then we can have a better product as a whole.