Breton Hawkins, 12, explains the importance of being involved in the political process.

Sometimes I think I’m crazy. Who in their right mind would ever go out on hot pavement, everyday in August for eight hours then do that for two more months for eight hours a week during the school year? Insane people – like band students. But I did it anyway, every fall for four years. And I loved it. Every second of it, and sometimes I’m not sure why. I spent most of my high school career in my (arguably) worst extracurricular. Yet I kept coming back for more.

This year’s band season did not end well. We didn’t make finals at any competition we competed in nor did we make state, yet I’m okay with it. I’m happy with the season overall for one reason, and for one reason alone: the people in it. I would have quit two years ago when I got my P.E. credits if it were not for the people in it. I’ve met my best friends and had the greatest times in high school with the people in band and drumline. From the ridiculous moments that arise during four-hour bus rides, to the times we went out to eat and just goofed off. Not to mention, the hours spent in the stands of every football game cheering on the Broncos. I’ve loved every second of it. I’ll never forget the times drumline went and played for the student section, I’ll never forget the inside jokes that could never be explained, even in context, and I’ll never forget the people involved. Some friends have graduated, some will be left behind, others will walk the stage with me, but all of them created memories with me. If it weren’t for those people, the ones we goof off with and then perform with, the ones we spend the most time with on the field and off of it, I never would have made it. Those special people, the ones who, despite failures, you go out with after and feel good about what you’ve done, the ones you celebrate with in success, the ones who make the hot days bearable, those people made it worth it.

So why do high school students, most of whom will never touch a football or instrument after they graduate, spend so much time pouring all their energy into an activity with no guarantee of any success? Hopefully we don’t happen to actually be crazy. We do it because the people you surround yourself with in your activities, they make those activities special. It doesn’t matter what extracurricular you participate in, whether it be band, football, academic decathlon, debate or tennis, we go out and work hard and put ourselves out there against others, and we fail, a lot, we don’t make finals, the team goes 2-8, the other team bested you despite your best efforts, and yet we still come back to it. Through those failures or successes, the people next to you stay with you the whole ride, and they make it worth it.

The football team is a F.A.M.I.L.Y. no matter what, the band is a F.A.M.I.L.Y. no matter what, and the people we spend all that time with are the ones we do it for. We do it because we want to succeed or fail next to them. We do it because we love the activity and the people in it, and we do it because every once in awhile the hard work has paid off and you are area champions or make state, or make finals and all that work and sweat and tears and frustration becomes worth it. Standing next to you will be the same people who have been there for better or worse, the friends that matter, and whether in victory or defeat, those people have made the time you’ve spent worth it.

Looking back, I’d do it all again. Maybe that does make me crazy, because I know the results will be the same. But in that time spent with the people around me I had the greatest times of my life so far.

I’d say a few hours sweating on a practice field were worth it.