Marching To the Beat of My Own Drum
February 14, 2024
Author: Hallie Diamant
Editor: Chloe Robinson
When I was in elementary school, my parents told me that I should pick up an instrument. I was never one for notes and tunes, so I picked the drums. It was in the third grade that I started lessons and never looked back.
As a young girl, I thought playing the drums was so cool. Being the only girl in the band made it even cooler. I loved to play and was not afraid to tell everyone who would listen about it.
When I hit high school, things started to change. All of my friends who were formerly in band with me had outgrown it and thought it to be time-consuming and “weird.” I still didn’t see the issue, I thought it was fun. I played the drums like usual, but this time my friends would call me a “band geek,” which I could never understand. I think that was the first time I realized that people “grew out” of playing instruments. I still wanted to play, but I realized that my social life was at stake. What used to be my impressive passion now made me want to run and hide. At games, I would physically duck at the sight of someone I knew. I would turn off my location so no one would know where I was. Why was I so embarrassed, especially when everyone already knew I played the drums?
I was running from the “band geek” stereotype. A hobby I once rambled on and on about I started to not even mention. When I was looking for college roommates, I hid such a large part of myself.
In the middle of my senior year, my teacher offered me the drummer position in the pit of my school musical, Legally Blonde. This had been my dream since I was 9, to be drumming in the school musical. All I had worked for, I could not turn it down. Of course, I was too mortified to tell anyone. People would think I’m even weirder. I started dreading rehearsal. I thought, no one can see me here.
However, after being surrounded with others who shared my passion, I started to slowly enjoy myself at rehearsals. I felt like I was a little kid again. As the show rolled around, I did something I never thought I would do. I texted just about everyone I knew telling them to come see me. I know my friends make jokes, so I didn’t expect them to show up at all. To my surprise, opening night, all of them were sitting in the auditorium watching. It made my heart happy to see that they supported what I love, even if it was “weird.”
It was that opening night I realized I spent so much time wondering about what other people may have been thinking about me playing the drums that I let it consume me. I could have been enjoying myself throughout high school, but because I was so embarrassed, I couldn’t. That weekend, so many different friends and family came to support me and cheer me on.
I don’t play the drums in college, but I’m not afraid of telling anyone that the drums are a hobby of mine. So what if they think I’m weird? I think it’s cool, it makes me smile, and that’s all that matters. I now march to the beat of my own drum.
