Is It October?

During 2nd period this morning, in math class, I went to write the date on a paper and realized that the month had changed. A 10 replaced the 9 that I had grown so accustomed to writing on every paper. This change, however, means more than a new number. This change marks the halfway point of the fall. That step is a big one.

First of all, we're already an eighth of the way through school... almost, anyway. Our classes have settled down by this point and we're actually learning new things now. Besides school, though, I guess you could call the first of October the, "make it or break it" moment of the fall. Sectionals is looming quietly in the distance, and now is the time to make a run at a better seed if that run is going to be made. The next week or two need to be the ones in which marching band rehearsals are more intense and more gets accomplished.

Some may think that the hard work of the fall season might come in the very beginning. After all, preseason and band camp are held in August. Contrary to that belief though do I stand. I think that the hardest work needs to come right now. The next two weeks could be the difference between first and fourth place in the state for marching band, and if rehearsals begin to be more focused and motivated, first might just be accomplished.

More than anything, this is the halfway point of the season that tests mental strength. Rather than giving up on a soccer season that just hasn't seemed to go the right way, we need to have renewed faith and motivation in ourselves. Even after a crushing, humiliating, pathetic loss to Hornell by the score of 5-0, we should go to school the following day with an even tougher mindset, thinking that we need to work just that much harder. We do not, however, need to throw in the towel and sulk, feeling sorry for ourselves.

"Tomorrow we will run faster, stretch our arms further... And one fine morning..."

Perseverance, mental toughness, faith. Those are the key words for the second half of fall.