(Today, one of your Drum Majors for the upcoming season, Karen Kirk, will be writing for the R.A.T. Blog! -The RLs)

Hey guys!

War Eagle!! I hope you?re having a wonderful summer so far. My name is Karen Kirk, and I am one of the Drum Majors of the Auburn University Marching Band this upcoming marching season. I am a senior majoring in Mechanical Engineering, and I?m also currently doing some really neat undergraduate research here at Auburn in Aeroacoustics: Under NASA?s request, we?re working with the Ares I launch vehicle, predicting the intense sound pressures the thing gives off when it?s launched into space! So, that makes me living proof that you can be a technical major, have some activities on the side, and still be in marching band! If you have questions about how I do it or how it works being a non-music major in the band, feel free to ask me! We?ve got science, math, engineering, pre-med, business, and majors of all kinds marching in the AUMB and performing in the other Auburn Bands and ensembles.

So enough about school stuff for now, because I must admit, most of my heart and my passion goes to the Auburn band. I?ve had the opportunity to march trumpet for three years now, and last year I got to be a section leader. (I love my trumpets!) I?m not gonna lie, that was also a great way for me to get even closer to my 57 trumpet friends!

I have always been a huge fan of the marching band? ever since I was very little, for as long as I can remember, I have been coming to Auburn games and watching the AUMB perform at Tiger Walk to crowds and crowds of fans, march around the stadium before the game, and perform many, many exciting half time shows. Before I even knew what football was, I knew that when I grew up I wanted be a member of the Auburn University Marching Band. (And I?ve grown up with the stories my parents told me of how they met and fell in love with each other in the AUMB!)

When I first came to Preseason Camp, I had no idea what to expect. Well, I did know that my sister was going to be my trumpet section leader, but that?s beside the point. (And she also met her husband in the band? he was a trombone player!) When I got here, though, I found that I easily made a lot of friends, and not just in the trumpet section! I don?t know how much I?m allowed to tell you about the fun activities that are lined up for all of you Rookie Auburn Tigers this year, but I can promise you that there are some awesome events planned, even bigger and better than in previous years. (Ed. Note: Stay tuned for news on this year’s R.A.T. Activities!) And I never thought that I could have so much fun my R.A.T. year of camp!

Then when school actually started, I had made so many friends already (some of them were even in my classes with me). I really did run into them all over campus, just like the upperclassmen said I would. It?s true, there are definitely advantages to being in the largest organization on campus! While all the other students were lost and confused, I already knew the ropes, and then I had band class and all my friends to look forward to at the end of the day!

When I was in high school, let?s be honest, we high school band kids weren?t exactly considered ?cool.? But when you get to Auburn, on the college level, it?s completely different. When I walk around in uniform on game day, excited fans come up and cheer ?War Eagle!? ?You guys are great!? ?I love watching the band!? ?My daughter just loves hearing you play!? ?. That?s what I do it for. Hands down? the adoring, appreciative fans make every moment of my hard work in the heat absolutely, positively worth it.

My favorite marching band memory is probably the pregame show of my sophomore year when we played Florida at our home stadium. It was the first BIG football game that year, and the fans really showed up! You know? our pregame show is something that I can?t really effectively explain to you unless you?ve been there on the field with me. But, I?m going to give it my best shot. I?m standing under the football stadium in the ?tunnel,? and butterflies are building in my stomach. I peer out between the stands and see the real live eagle flying high above, circling, as 86,000 fans cheer ?Waaaaaaaaaaar Eagle!? Then, our impressive Band Trailer Video booms over the jumbo-tron, and the head drum major marches onto the field, spinning his mace with power and confidence. My pulse is rising, the other band members are cheering and getting pumped, and the crowd is going nuts! Then, we hear ?Band? ten hut! ONE!!!? I grab my trumpet tightly, and as the drums beat my line starts running out through the tunnel, joining with other lines of excited band members in our pregame jog. It?s driving, intense, high-energy, and unlike anything else I?ve done in my life! And the crowd is so loud I can?t do anything but cheer and laugh in exhilaration as I run onto the field! Throughout the pregame show, I had so much adrenaline and energy it was absolutely unreal. There?s nothing in the world like getting out there and performing your heart out for such an excited, appreciative audience of fans! The crowd was so intense I could barely hear myself play!

But, it?s something you have to be there to truly understand.

So, in short, if you are still deciding to be in band, I really hope you will give it a try. You?ll take from it friends, stories, memories, and a certain pride in yourself and others that you?ll never forget.

If you have any questions at all, don?t hesitate one bit to ask me! And if you?d like to hear more awesome stories of why I like band, let me know because I could go on about that all day long. But, I think it?s time to end my post here, thank you for reading it!

I can?t wait to get to know every single one of you! Have a great summer and I hope to see you in just a few more weeks!

War Eagle!!
Karen