There's no shame in being nervous... My mother would say it like this: "You're gonna get the butterflies, right?  We've all heard 'the butterflies in your tummy.'"  She would say, "You just have to get them to fly in formation."

Today marks the last day that I will appear on live broadcasts with BOX5-TV this season. It's been thrilling and exhausting. I'm so appreciative of the opportunity to help share these stories and to make our brand at MAE more visible to more people in our activity.

As I try to declutter during the pandemic and clear out my life, I have become aware that many of the things that mean so much to me are only special to me. This is okay. Other things that I no longer am attached to should go and make room for more space or new items.

Early in my career when I was a band director I used to get a cold at the end of each marching season. I would run myself ragged and then finally collapse when the season was over. I was really proud when I stopped this pattern and learned to take care of myself so that this no longer happened each year.

I have an interesting conversation with Michael Raiford about the difference in Sets and Props in our marching shows. Let's adjust to better terminology that matches the rest of the arts community.

We all have something that sets us apart, makes us feel different, and might make us worry how others will treat us. Once we can be comfortable with our true selves, others will take their cues from us and do so also.

I was a high school band director for 10 years and with each year that passed, I found that I talked less and less. The better my band got, the less I had to tell them.

In order to make progress you have to fail. In order to move forward, you may have to go backward. Progress is not a straight line, but a series of hills that gradually move upward. You must put yourself in the situation where you want to succeed; you have to go there and fail first. The best example I know of this is bench pressing in the gym.

One of the issues that has arisen from the global shutdown and pandemic are disruptions in supply lines. This is unlikely to change any time soon. This is frustrating for all of us who want to put a perfect show out into the world for everyone to see. But our activity has always been about "making it work."

There was a trend in our activity at one point where shows were all through-composed and never stopped. I see the artistry in this, but I'm glad we've moved on. I think we need to let the audience clap. This is especially true for high school performers.