Video Transcript – Blue Thunder Marching Band

[Band practicing music]
[Aslen Whitmore, senior drum corps major for the Bleu Thunder Marching Band]: I’m Aslen Whitmore. I’m a fourth year biology student. I’m going into pre-med field and I grew up here in Nampa. I think the marching band here is the biggest thing that influenced my decision to come to Boise State.
One thing that makes Blue Thunder stand out to me, compared to other marching bands, is just that we’re known for being one of the best in the Northwest.
[Music]
Blue Thunder’s kind of got a name for itself. I think when a band plays and you hear just that live music, where you can just feel the sound, I don’t think there’s anything like it as far as getting everyone all riled up for the game.
I’m not a music major. That kind of environment is not typical of a marching band. A big majority of marching band students aren’t music majors, and it’s not their whole life. It’s just something we do because we love it. So I think being able to explore different avenues, even when other people don’t, even when they’re notorious for taking up a lot of time, I think it’s still so worth it to kind of break out of that box that everyone else is in. We still have a lot of discipline, and we still have really high expectations for ourselves. And I think that kind of rigor that goes into that, really translates to everything else.
I think Marching Band was the primary reason I chose to come to Boise State, but Honors College kind of made it possible for me to finance it. And I’m really, really grateful for that because I got some really nice scholarships through the Honors College. I was able to pay for everything that way.
Honestly, I don’t know what my experience would have been like at Boise State if I didn’t have such a tight knit group that was kind of handed to me. I think the best part of Blue Thunder is that you kind of get a friend group just by default. The way it’s set up by sections, you’re grouped into your instruments, you do sectionals with them, you hang out with them outside of band. That’s why I think it’s so important that each section blends so well.
And when we do fun things, like where they all go to IHOP after games and, and have, you know, group hangouts on the weekends, it just builds those close relationships.

I think the biggest takeaway for me in being drum major and the opportunity to mentor others is just how much you learn when you teach. Being in leadership is totally… it applies to everything. And being in command of 200 people, it helps me not feel anxious when I’m under pressure in other situations and it just I feel like it just totally translates to any other position where I need to kind of step up.
[Music]
Our job description is just to bring the energy. If there’s something that interests you, like just do it and there’s nothing that stops you. You don’t have to just go along with whatever people tell you to do. This is my college experience. I would never, never go back and change the way I did it. To me, being a “Bronco Blue Turf Thinker” means that no matter what box somebody else puts me in, I can always break it and make my own.

[ Music: Boise State University Fight Song plays]
[Graphic: Boise State University, blue background, orange “B” logo]