We are at the end of day three here at Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana and there is simply no question WHATSOEVER that the George N. Parks Drum Major Academy® is roaring through campus! With over 400 drum major students this week, it is a little hard to miss us….heck, you can hear us 4 blocks away from the field. Intense and excitement simply do not begin to scratch the surface of the experience here at the MFA Summer Symposium.
Monday started with some unpredictable weather…ok, it rained. Well, not really. It poured complete with some of the most outrageous thunder and lightening I have ever heard and seen! So inside we began and frankly it was the PERFECT decision. There was a sense of community, intimacy and inclusion within the opening 5 minutes of the session. The vets took the lead and the entire group was instantly engaged in the material. While the auditorium setting for teaching Attention and The Ready positions was not ideal, the students didn’t seem to see a thing wrong with it–it was raining and we had work to do! Talk about a positive attitude from the get-go!
Dr. Tim Lautzenheiser spent the morning with us today and if anyone didn’t think the group was revved up, yet focused and on a mission before, there is simply no question now! The energy is electric and the SINCERITY of the students is beyond description.
The new location took a little getting used to by myself and this All-Star staff. We, human beings, are creatures of habit and when you take us out of our regular “living environment” there is a learning curve that must be conquered. It did NOT take long for this task to be accomplished and Ball State University is quickly beginning to feel like home.
Three more days to go….George would be thrilled!
more soon….
