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[Band counting off ...]
>> ALEX WASKAWIC, senior, drum major: When I showed up freshman year it was a very, very
different experience. I had never seen the band. I had never gone to a Badger game. So
I didn't know what I was getting myself into. We all just ran out onto the field and formed
up and I didn't know what was going to happen, and we got driven into the ground. It was
really, really difficult and I got home that night and I didn't know if I wanted to go
back. But you go back day in and day out, and you just get hooked on it.
>> CASSIE BAUKNECHT, sophomore, trombone: Going off to college I thought I'd have a
life all by myself, that I would be in control of everything. But being in this band really
showed me that you're an individual but we're all together. Like one of our field assistants
said today, you're part of the biggest team that you're ever going to be on.
>> MIKE LECKRONE, director: People don't understand that we really have to start from scratch
not only with the new people but with the people that have been around because they've
been away from it for six months or so. They forget some of the nuances that are there
so it's really like starting all over again every fall. I don't know if people appreciate
how much has to be done. What our hope is that when we get to a game on Saturday they
don't think about that. They just think. 'Oh, there they are again,' and that is the ideal
situation you want to be in.
>> PATRICK HALBACH, senior, snare drum: Mike really pushes us hard and all our peers hold
us to a certain standard whether it's the section leader or the sophomore marching next
to you. Everyone holds each other to a really high standard. I think just mentally preparing
for games and just knowing that every time you step on this field you have to bring that
mental intensity and you have to be physical about it. It's great but it really challenges
you, and pushes you really hard.
>> ALEX WASKAWIC: It's centered around what we do here on the field. And it's these 300
students that come out here for two to three hours at a time and during preseason it will
be seven hours a day, and we just work hard all day long trying to get back in shape and
ready to perform in front of Camp Randall. And in the process you get to know the people
around you, and they become your best friends in school. So the camaraderie is just tied
directly with your hard work ethic, and then the chance to perform and enjoy all the work
we did, on Saturdays, is just truly amazing.
[Marching band music]