I have countless amazing memories from high school marching band, and I figured I'd put them here so that I can always remember them, and maybe a few people will also get a laugh out of some of them. I guess I'll start with freshman year.

I'll have to omit a few memories. As much as I'd like to share everything, we have three traditions that only band members are supposed to know about. I know it's the internet and nobody cares, but it's important to me to keep them a secret.

• Bus traditions

Whenever we were on a bus ride somewhere, for the first and last few minutes of the ride the highest leader on the bus (usually a fleet) would say "fall in, face forward," and we'd sit still in our seats facing forward, and we weren't supposed to make noise. We did this because most accidents occur within the first and last few minutes of trips, and this allowed the bus driver to focus on the road, rather than the fifty loud teenagers behind them.

We'd also say "thank you" to the bus driver whenever we got off. This was a tradition stemming back all the way to 1969 when the band was formed, and it's something we never lost.

• The terrifying drive to Camp Greenbrier

This was where we had our band camp. We took tour busses (three my freshman year, I think), and I'm almost certain the road there wasn't meant for vehicles that large. The roads were barely wide enough for two regular sized cars to scrape past each other, and there was a fairly sharp drop on one side of the road. Every time we passed another car heading in the opposite direction I'd be terrified we'd slip off the edge of the road.

• The banana peel

During lunch one day, our bronze fleet (4th in command) turned around in his chair, stared right at me, and shoved a banana peel into his mouth. We became fairly close that year. He was a pretty chill guy.

• My first parent show (I cried)

Every year on Friday evening we'd perform what we had done of the show for our parents. It was a pretty long drive and only a couple hundred people would normally show up at Greenbrier (more showed up my senior year when we switched camps), but it was still really cool, and it was my first real performance in marching band. Up until that point I had been considering quitting band after that year, but once the show was over, I realized just how incredible it was that so many people could come together to make something so amazing. Then all the seniors started crying because it was their last year. I guess it was contagious because I started crying, too. Though, in my defense, I had made quite a few close friends that were seniors, and my sister was also a senior that year.

• The start of a new tradition

Every year on Saturday before we left camp, the seniors would all hold hands and walk down the practice field together. Normally non-seniors weren't allowed to watch, but they made exceptions for people taking pictures. My sister asked me to take some, so they allowed me to show up. This year, however, one of the percussion players (his name escapes my memory, but he was one of the last people I would have expected to do something like this) said something along the lines of "Guys, we're not close enough," and they all put their arms around each other's shoulders instead of just holding hands. More crying followed.

• Guard was terrible, but everything else was great

At competitions, we'd consistently get 5th, 4th, or even 3rd place in every category except for color guard. They were always in the bottom 5 places. On the opposite end, we got within top 3 for drum majors that year at every competition.

• A bittersweet memory

To this day I'm not sure if I regret this decision or not. Probably yes, but whatever.

This was the year I asked my ex-girlfriend out. I remember specifically it was a Friday night after a football game, early on in the season. I was terrified, but I had more guts back then, so I managed to do it. We were friends for a couple of months, then we started officially dating. I can't deny I was happier then than I ever had been before, so maybe it was worth it. Maybe.

That's everything interesting I can remember from freshman year. Maybe it wasn't all that interesting, or maybe I just can't remember much from that long ago. And there's always the possibility that Senior year was just so exciting that every other year seems dull by comparison. Who knows. More to come.