Mia Payette, a junior at Sahuaro High School, has been involved in band since fifth grade; this year being her seventh year. Mia originally wanted to quit, but when she was in eighth grade she suddenly realized she loved it. Every member has a different instrument they play, and Mia’s is, “percussions, so anything you’re not blowing air through. In marching band, I play snare drums, but in concert band, I’ll play anything snare, bass, even stuff like tambourines.” Although she plays different types of percussions, her favorite is the snare drum, “I have a soft spot for it for sure, but besides the snare drum I like the marimba.”

“My favorite thing about the band is the people, I’ve met some of my best friends in the band, and it’s just like a fun thing to do. I like to play the drums, and I like to make music. It kind of gives me that space to do it with other people.” Not only is band a great way to socialize and bring creativity to the world, but it’s also a great way to show school spirit. In Mia’s opinion, “Students should join the band. It can be hard at first, especially if you’re just joining in high school. Plus, people learn to read music in middle school. But if you are just willing to learn and want to be a part of something, the band would be a really good fit for you.”  Since the band plays a big role in football games, it takes a lot to practice to make sure everything is good. “If it’s a game, preparing starts on Monday, like making sure I’m drinking a lot of water that week, and then Thursday getting enough sleep because it’s a long day, from being at school from 7:45 am to 10 pm. So just making sure I’m eating good foods that aren’t going to upset my stomach and drinking enough water.”

To balance school work with all the practicing and preparing, Mia will try to get her work done in class, but most work gets done on the weekend. Since band plays a big role in her life, she wants to at least play an instrument as a hobby later on. She mentioned that band is, “…not something I’m going to go into for a career, but I definitely want to continue it. In college, I want to join the marching band at UofA because I think it’ll be really fun and just a good experience to play with all kinds of people.” Mia Payette is an exceptional music player and is still looking forward to what band will bring her next.