The Start of College
Illinois
Move In Day
My first day at UIUC, like any other move-in day, was slightly more than incredibly stressful. Not even before nine in the morning, my parents and I crammed almost a dozen boxes, bins, and other assorted items into our car and made our way down to Champaign-Urbana, stopping only once at a rest stop for a quick bathroom break.
By the time we had reached the dorm, it was almost twelve and the sun was beating down like wildfire. Despite the heat, however, the battalion of move-in guides that had come to help us was no short of enthusiasm as they helped us move everything up to my room. In a matter of hours, we were finished.
While my parents stayed as long as they could, eventually, we said our goodbyes, and I watched as the car pulled out of the parking lot and headed back north.
Perhaps homesickness would've crept in then, but, alas, I was distracted with getting ready for what was about to happen tomorrow.
Week One - Preseason Camp
My first week at UIUC was dominated by one thing: preseason camp with the Marching Illini.
For those who don't know, the Marching Illini is the official marching band of the University of Illinois. We play at a multitude of events during the first (and a little bit of the second) semester of school - most notably football games, but also parades, showcases, and even bowl games/college football playoffs if the team makes it.
I was fortunate enough to be offered a spot at preseason camp (which takes place the week before classes) after auditioning in May, and, after completing my memorization tests, was officially accepted into #band157.
During this weeklong 9:00 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. adventure, I learned a lot about the different parts of the Marching Illini and practiced quite a few things, including:
- A of our traditional/pregame music
- The different Marching Illini/Big Ten steps (yes, we march in five different ways)
- The entire Marching Illini pregame show
- The Incomparable Three In One (a movement we perform at the end of halftime)
- Different "Stand Tunes", including Hey! Baby!, Runaway Baby, Stars and Stripes Forever, and Everybody's Everything
- The fifty or so (I lost count) traditions the band follows
- How to have a metric ton of fun
We capped off our escapade the following Sunday with photos of the band and a performance at Quad Day, a major event where over 700 registered student organizations show off and recruit new members on the main quad and south quad.
I spent the rest of Sunday checking out the different RSOs at Quad Day, having a meal at my dorm, and retiring to my room to work on some things.
While preseason camp was certainly the highlight of my first two weeks (and my explanation here certainly does not do it justice), it was far from the last time I'd be seeing my fellow bandmates - in fact, I would be seeing all of them the very next day. More on that later though, because FIRST - school was starting.
Week Two - College (and More Band)
After having gotten very little sleep over the last week because of a certain marching band camp, I treated myself by waking up promptly at 7 a.m. again. The reason? I had to be at the Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) Building (not the one in the photo, unfortunately) by nine to make my first ever lecture. Should I have picked such an early class? Probably not. Do I regret it? Absolutely. Do I care enough to change it? Well... not really.
Other than waking up so early, the rest of the day went very smoothly - all of my professors were nice, we had no difficult material to go over (it was the first day, after all), and I wasn't late to any classes. The only unfortunate thing was that I didn't plan out my afternoon very well and missed both lunch and dinner as a result, but oh well...
While my last real class ended at 3:20 p.m., I wasn't quite done with the day yet. I still had one more thing to get to at five: Marching Illini practice.
During the hour-and-a-half rehearsal (which flew by compared to the 12+ hours a day I spent at preseason camp), we started learning the entire Lady Gaga halftime show we would be performing at the upcoming game on Friday, practiced pregame/Three-In-One a couple more times, and started memorizing the Western Illinois (ssssssssss) fight song.
Once rehearsal was over, I was finally done for the day - I raced back to my dorm, took a shower, ate a snack (since I hadn't had anything to eat since breakfast), and headed off to sleep.
The rest of the week was more or less the same tempo/difficulty-wise. Here's my schedule if you want to take a look:
| Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Introduction to Computing Lecture (ECE 120) - 9:00 a.m. - 9:50 a.m. | Introduction to Computing Lecture (ECE 120) - 9:00 a.m. - 9:50 a.m. | Introduction to Computing Lecture (ECE 120) - 9:00 a.m. - 9:50 a.m. | ||
| Engineering Orientation (ENG 100) - 11:00 a.m. - 11:50 a.m. | Engineering Orientation (ENG 100) - 11:00 a.m. - 11:50 a.m. | |||
| Intro to Differential Equations (MATH 285) - 12:00 p.m. - 12:50 p.m. | Intro to Differential Equations (MATH 285) - 12:00 p.m. - 12:50 p.m. | Intro to Differential Equations (MATH 285) - 12:00 p.m. - 12:50 p.m. | ||
| Introduction to Computing Discussion (ECE 120) - 1:00 p.m. - 1:50 p.m. | ||||
| Exploring Quantum Science Through the Arts (PHYS 199 CHP) - 2:00 p.m. - 3:20 p.m. | Exploring Quantum Science Through the Arts (PHYS 199 CHP) - 2:00 p.m. - 3:20 p.m. | |||
| Marching Illini (MUSC 487) - 5:00 p.m. - 6:30 p.m. | Marching Illini (MUSC 487) - 5:00 p.m. - 6:30 p.m. | Marching Illini (MUSC 487) - 5:00 p.m. - 6:30 p.m. | Marching Illini (MUSC 487) - 5:00 p.m. - 6:30 p.m. | |
| Marching Illini (MUSC 487) - 8:00 p.m. - 9:30 p.m. |
As you might've noticed, I have Marching Illini practice very late on Thursdays. This isn't just because Professor Houser turns into a night owl once a week - there's actually a special reason for this.
By having practice so late in the day, we are able to make Thursday the one day we practice inside Memorial Stadium (UIUC's 100 year-old football stadium) rather than on our practice field. By practicing in Memorial, we can get a better feel for marching in our actual performance venue, and even work on a couple of things that we can't typically do on the practice field due to space or other constraints.
That was pretty much how the rest of the week went - nothing special, just attending classes and going to practice. At least, that's how it was until Friday, because of something we like to call...
Friday - FOOTBALLLLL
After coming back from an early 10 a.m. lecture I took to replace the 12 p.m. one I was going to miss, I headed over to Memorial Stadium to get ready for game day.
At memorial, we went over run-on, pregame and halftime one last time in preparation for later. However, since I was an alternate and would not be marching on the field, I stood on the sideline instead and received instructions on where to march, what to do, what not to mess up (more on that later), etc.
Once rehearsal was over, I raced back to my dorm to grab two free tickets to give to my parents, and then we all went back to the band building together to eat dinner (Cane's) before suiting up and heading BACK to Memorial for our Grange Grove performance.
At Grange Grove, we played some of our traditional music, stand tunes, and one of our halftime songs (Bad Romance) before heading back to the Armory for march-out.
We paraded all the way from the Armory to the south entrance of Memorial (which felt like a second home by that point), where all of us (alternates included) setup for pregame.
After one last call to attention, it was go time.
(Watch the full pregame show here.)
Pregame went well, except for one thing - I may or may not have stopped at the wrong yard line and caused a very visible pileup (see the image above). Heheheh...
After pregame, we set up below the student to play (a lot of) stand tunes. Nothing too eventful happened, other than about thirty different things in the first quarter alone.
Once there were about five minutes left on the clock, we moved down to the field to prepare for halftime - only for the team to score a touch down and force us into a very chaotic bout of Oskee-Wow-Wow.
Once that was all done with, however, we got ready for our halftime show - Lady Gaga.
(Watch the full halftime show here.)
Unlike pregame, halftime went off without a hitch - not only that, but, even though I was an alternate, I got to march Three-In-One (the formation shown in the photo) at the very end.
After marching off the field, we filed back into the stands, another plethora of shenanigans took place.
By midway through the fourth quarter, it was pretty clear Illinois was going to win (having held a 46-3 lead by that point), and, keep with tradition, the entire band flipped our hats and capes.
Soon enough, we had won.
After one last rendition of Oskee-Wow-Wow, Illinois Loyalty, and Hail to the Orange, we filed back down to the field, set up in parade block, and marched all the way back to the Siebel Center for Design to perform our postgame concert for the masses.
The rest of the day (and the following weekend) crawled by - my parents and I moved a couple more things into my room, we went out for lunch with a friend, and then I pretty much spent the rest of my time working on projects/homework, filling out applications, and attending meetings with RSOs. Before I knew it, it was Sunday - I had been at college for two weeks that had absolutely flown by.
Conclusion
My first two weeks at U of I were amazing - I made a ton of new memories, found plenty of new friends, and accessed opportunities that I hadn't even thought were possible before.
Your first two weeks at college probably won't look anything like mine, but that's okay! There's no singular right way to do things - during these everyone has an opportunity to build their own story in these first few moments of their higher education experience. Whatever you choose to do, just remember to get out there, have fun, make new friends, and enjoy things while you still can - it'll go by faster than you can blink.