“I think having that close bond is super good and helps unite the band," Hatfield said.

Senior and saxophone section leader Alex Kaminski feels as though he benefits from the passion that the four of them have for the band.

“When we see the drum majors who might not have known each other before becoming friends, it creates a sense of unity in the band as a whole,” Kaminski said.

Seeing four best friends, working together, and having fun, inspires the band. Elza says there is something special about getting the whole band hyped up, and she couldn’t do it by herself, without the other three drum majors.

The band marches the hallways to get the student body excited for the football festivities later in the day. With help from the drumline, they load up the trailer with supplies, like ladders and water for the game that night. Sometimes the four of them meet for dinner, then they head to the stadium early. There, they unpack extra instrument parts, extra uniform accessories, and drumline stands.

At 5:45 p.m., the whole band is ready in the parking lot for rehearsal before the game. At 6:25 p.m., the band marches into the stadium.

“It's so much fun when we get to walk into the stadium and just get to scream at the top of our lungs, especially going by the student section when they’re super excited to see the band and they cheer super loud,” Hatfield said.

Not many people get to experience what being a drum major entails or to see the band from their point of view. When someone is a band member, they spend the majority of their time with their section and only really hearing themselves play. But as a drum major, they hear what the whole band sounds like from the front. They also start to spend time with members from every section.

“I love the different bonds that I've gotten to have with people outside of my own section,” Elza said. “I feel like in [instrument] sections people kind of veer towards their people, which is fun, and there's nothing wrong with that. This position has been really rewarding, and I’ve made a lot of new friendships.”

Sometimes her role feels routined and simple now that she is a senior drum major. But the overwhelming support from the band members, school, and the community continues to reward her for what she does.

Dastick believes that drum majors aren’t just leaders, they’re role models too. He recalls looking up to the drum majors to help and guide him when he was an underclassman.

"When coming into Dow High as a freshman, I looked up to the drum majors because they seemed to have a lot of things figured out,” Dastick said. “I’m glad that I can also [be a role model] for a lot of the underclassmen.”

To audition to be a drum major means to commit to this position for the next two years. The audition has a couple of steps: conduct the fight song in front of the band and give a speech regarding why they would be the best candidate that year. In their junior year, they work alongside the senior drum majors. This prepares them for their senior year when they are the two in charge. After the two new junior drum majors are selected, they go through training to learn the other responsibilities and skills that are expected from a drum major. In previous years, the new drum majors would attend a week-long camp at CMU where they trained. However, due to COVID, this hasn’t been able to take place. This resulted in Neuenfeldt and Elza teaching the two juniors themselves this summer.

“[Being a drum major at a game] is a really different perspective from a football player, obviously, but for me, it’s [still] game day,” Elza said.

After all of the hours of practice, rehearsal, answering questions, training, and printing sheet music, it's finally the middle of the season, on a chilly Friday night in the middle of September. The four drum majors take their positions, one standing on the ladder at the 50-yard line. Moments before the halftime show begins, they stand still, looking over an army of musicians ready to march on the field. Neuenfeldt believes that pride is the feeling that outshines all others at that moment.

“When I was on the ladder at the Homecoming game and I was conducting, I was just looking out,” Neuenfeldt said. “It was cool to see, and it made me very proud.”

Being a drum major and leading over 191 members requires a lot of responsibility. Many people rely on them. But it's a job that they all truly love to do, especially because they get to do it alongside the other drum majors, their best friends.