The Road Leads Back to You: SOA16
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As a kid, I heard, read, and watched countless stories of people falling in love with other people; or heard so many times that we had to figure out what we wanted to do when we grew up. Because for some reason we have to pick just one. After spending two summers with Spirit of Atlanta Drum & Bugle Corps, (and a short stint with Minnesota Brass DBC), I can tell you with utmost certainty that only having one love, or one path of life, is not the case. Long shot.
It started with high school marching band, as these things tend to, and I realized I wasn’t ready to stop spinning and performing after my last show with the Grand Rapids High School Marching Band in 2012. I decided to put my skills to the test, and auditioned with Georgia’s drum corps, Spirit of Atlanta, that fall. I was welcomed in with open arms (literally -- I got off my shuttle from the airport and found Elijah White hugging me with a rifle in his hand), and awarded with a contract for the 2013 season.
Fast-forward to August 2013; the end of a great summer with Spirit. I made insanely talented friends, improved immensely at my sport of the arts, and lived the gypsy lifestyle before moving to Chicago for school. Drum corps taught me so many things that summer, but it was almost incomparable to what was to come.
For the summer of 2014, I decided to stay at home for an internship opportunity and one of my jobs at the time, but band was still a large part of my life anyway. I taught at my alma mater for their season, and I ended up filling a hole in the DCA corps from St. Paul: Minnesota Brass. Another excellent drum corps experience that made me fall in love with DCA, helped me improve my skills, and introduced me to some more wonderfully talented friends.
But the hankering was still there; it had always been the plan to do another summer of DCI, and I found pretty quickly that nothing felt as right as returning back to Spirit for round two.
Spirit of Atlanta 2015 has been the most significant three months of my life to date. I learned so much about myself, what I can accomplish, how much better I can be on and off the field, and I spent that time alongside 40 of my absolute best friends. Not to mention the 113 other people in our little slice of the drum corps world who dealt with our ensemble “yeet”-ing, over-enthusiastic “OOHHH MY GAWD”-s during free time, and laughed with us when Jen Barton would say something ridiculous from the box.
Of course, the summer came with a lot of hard work. And some times where I questioned myself and my sanity for signing up for the activity again… all of which eventually amplified the heartbreak when we did our final run of the show in Lucas Oil, and had to say good-bye to so many of the people I have come to love over the entire summer (all happening over the course of a single day.)
I’m lucky. I’m extremely lucky. I’ve found my family -- my best friends -- and even though it breaks my heart every hour I go without seeing them in the offseason, I still feel lucky just having them in my lives. And receiving endless chimes on my phone from the group texts.
(Prepare yourself, my public radio is kicking in-)
I’ve been so lucky -- I have seen so many places and connected with so many people because I’ve been blessed with caring friends and family at home. The two years I’ve done of drum corps have been so reliant on financial donations, and this year the strain is even tighter.
I’m a full-time Junior at Columbia College Chicago, a double-major in Radio and Business & Entrepreneurship with a concentration in Media Management, as well as being enrolled in the Honors program. I’m the Executive Vice President of Communications for CCC’s Student Government Association (SGA), the Web & Marketing Intern at the non-profit organization Chicago Area Runners Association (CARA), I work in the Radio department as a Teacher’s Assistant and tech support, and I tech for the Downer’s Grove South Marching Mustang’s color guard on the weekends.
Needless to say, I’m fairly busy, and I’m doing absolutely as much as I can to put pennies away to make another year of drum corps happen. The time I have to do this activity is so very limited, I only have two more opportunities to do it (including summer 2016).
I can’t do it without your help. I can’t return to one of the things that I love the most without fulfilling this large financial commitment.
I cannot stress enough that any dollar amount will help me make it on the road this summer. If every one of my Facebook friends donated as little as $2.50, I would be set to go for drum corps 2016, (that’s less than the average cup of coffee from Starbucks). The funds raised from this page will go directly towards my tour fees, which pays for food, transportation, housing, instruction, uniforms, laundry, and other miscellaneous tour-related items.
If you made it this far, I hope you will consider donating whatever you can to help me get home. If you can't contribute, simply sharing my campaign means more than you can fathom. Any questions? Feel free to contact me at any time: [email redacted]
It started with high school marching band, as these things tend to, and I realized I wasn’t ready to stop spinning and performing after my last show with the Grand Rapids High School Marching Band in 2012. I decided to put my skills to the test, and auditioned with Georgia’s drum corps, Spirit of Atlanta, that fall. I was welcomed in with open arms (literally -- I got off my shuttle from the airport and found Elijah White hugging me with a rifle in his hand), and awarded with a contract for the 2013 season.
Fast-forward to August 2013; the end of a great summer with Spirit. I made insanely talented friends, improved immensely at my sport of the arts, and lived the gypsy lifestyle before moving to Chicago for school. Drum corps taught me so many things that summer, but it was almost incomparable to what was to come.
For the summer of 2014, I decided to stay at home for an internship opportunity and one of my jobs at the time, but band was still a large part of my life anyway. I taught at my alma mater for their season, and I ended up filling a hole in the DCA corps from St. Paul: Minnesota Brass. Another excellent drum corps experience that made me fall in love with DCA, helped me improve my skills, and introduced me to some more wonderfully talented friends.
But the hankering was still there; it had always been the plan to do another summer of DCI, and I found pretty quickly that nothing felt as right as returning back to Spirit for round two.
Spirit of Atlanta 2015 has been the most significant three months of my life to date. I learned so much about myself, what I can accomplish, how much better I can be on and off the field, and I spent that time alongside 40 of my absolute best friends. Not to mention the 113 other people in our little slice of the drum corps world who dealt with our ensemble “yeet”-ing, over-enthusiastic “OOHHH MY GAWD”-s during free time, and laughed with us when Jen Barton would say something ridiculous from the box.
Of course, the summer came with a lot of hard work. And some times where I questioned myself and my sanity for signing up for the activity again… all of which eventually amplified the heartbreak when we did our final run of the show in Lucas Oil, and had to say good-bye to so many of the people I have come to love over the entire summer (all happening over the course of a single day.)
I’m lucky. I’m extremely lucky. I’ve found my family -- my best friends -- and even though it breaks my heart every hour I go without seeing them in the offseason, I still feel lucky just having them in my lives. And receiving endless chimes on my phone from the group texts.
(Prepare yourself, my public radio is kicking in-)
I’ve been so lucky -- I have seen so many places and connected with so many people because I’ve been blessed with caring friends and family at home. The two years I’ve done of drum corps have been so reliant on financial donations, and this year the strain is even tighter.
I’m a full-time Junior at Columbia College Chicago, a double-major in Radio and Business & Entrepreneurship with a concentration in Media Management, as well as being enrolled in the Honors program. I’m the Executive Vice President of Communications for CCC’s Student Government Association (SGA), the Web & Marketing Intern at the non-profit organization Chicago Area Runners Association (CARA), I work in the Radio department as a Teacher’s Assistant and tech support, and I tech for the Downer’s Grove South Marching Mustang’s color guard on the weekends.
Needless to say, I’m fairly busy, and I’m doing absolutely as much as I can to put pennies away to make another year of drum corps happen. The time I have to do this activity is so very limited, I only have two more opportunities to do it (including summer 2016).
I can’t do it without your help. I can’t return to one of the things that I love the most without fulfilling this large financial commitment.
I cannot stress enough that any dollar amount will help me make it on the road this summer. If every one of my Facebook friends donated as little as $2.50, I would be set to go for drum corps 2016, (that’s less than the average cup of coffee from Starbucks). The funds raised from this page will go directly towards my tour fees, which pays for food, transportation, housing, instruction, uniforms, laundry, and other miscellaneous tour-related items.
If you made it this far, I hope you will consider donating whatever you can to help me get home. If you can't contribute, simply sharing my campaign means more than you can fathom. Any questions? Feel free to contact me at any time: [email redacted]
Organizer
Erika Kooda
Organizer
Chicago, IL
