I have decided to tell you all a little story. It's about marching band, and then maybe my friends who follow me on witty (hi guys) might understand why I talk about it all the time. Sorry that it's going to be text based and in boring font. It's worth the read, trust me.
They are my second family, my mom, my dad, my aunt, my godfather, my father's two best man(s) (men, whatever), my "mom"'s sisters (who I guess are my aunts, but one of them was already my friend so that's complicated), my "mom"'s snare drum (yes, my sister is a snare drum) and then all of my other friends. Any bad times are outweighed by the good, at least 3:1 (good:bad).
Marching band also involves play tuba (sousaphone. My school isn't cool enough for marching tubas even though I really want one because they are beautiful in every single way) and I really love playing. Before I joined I was an o.k. player, but now I'm a lot better. My reading (musically) has improved, my counting has improved, my technique has improved, my sound quality has improved, my dynamics have improved, and my range has improved. I'm still not great, but I'm better than I was before. I can go from a low g (below the staff thank you) to a high a (at the top of the staff), not in one note, but I can go from a low a to a high d in one note thank you very much.
Marching band has helped me feel a lot more confident. It shows when I play, and it shows in my personality. I'm more likely to try new things now because I feel like "hey, maybe I can do this". Which is why I'm doing indoor drumline (and because I love almost everyone there) and I want to try marching cymbals. Also I'm not afraid to talk to new people because I'm not afraid of rejection. On the first day of band camp I was only friends with one person, and only knew 2 (I didn't dislike this person, I just barely knew her). Now I'm friends with over 1/2 of them, and the ones I'm friends with, I adore and (I think) adore me.
Marching band is like a famliy, but better. There are more jokes, more music, more friends, more relationships (even though there weren't any this year, I think there will be next year), and more love. There are less fights I feel (even though last friday two guys almost got into a fist fight over a girl (long story)) and when things go wrong, people help you get through it. Once we got lost on the way to a football game, but it didn't matter because that meant we wouldn't have to be cold for a little bit longer, and we could talk to whoever we wanted for longer (it's hard to talk to a woodwind if you're in drumline since they sit a kajillion rows apart). When we got gipped (one judge gave us 5th and another gave us 12th, somehow we got tenth) at our championships, we all helped each other feel better.
Honestly, I don't know where I'd be without marching band. I don't think I'd still be in concert band because our concert director is a jerkface sometimes (he isn't involved that much (at all) with our marching band) and when he is, it's usually towards me and I get really down and it ruins my afternoon. If I wasn't in marching band, I'd be worse at playing and he'd yell at me more. Also he appreciates me a little more because it shows I'm a little more dedicated than the other players in my grade.
You don't have to play music to join. Colorguard is a great way to get in without playing music. If exersize isn't your thing, you can join pit (or front ensemble) because they don't march (they still do work I get that, but they aren't marching). If you don't know how to play music but want to learn, get lessons, it's worth it. Also some bands will allow you to learn during band camp (two of my friends had never done any band stuff before they joined marching band, now one of them is the snare (which is really important and difficult and you have to take lessons to play for my school, it's not like concert band) drummer).
To anyone on the fence about joining, just do it. You'll be surprised at how much fun you have.
To anyone who doesn't want to join, do it anyway. You'll like it more than you think.