For Waco High School student Christian Aguilar, summer breaks have been spent practicing with the Waco High Lions’ marching band.
But this summer, Aguilar went on a cross-country tour playing trumpet with The Crossmen Bugle and Drum Corps, a competitive marching band based in San Antonio.
At 14, Aguilar became the youngest member to join the Crossmen when he joined this summer. His day has been filled with hours-long bus rides, practicing drill sets and performing.
Aguilar was asked to join the group after attending multiple camps in November, December, and January in LaVernia and Arlington. He began spring training on May 28 in Newton, Kansas. The tour started on July 8 in Iowa.
“It’s just really cool to be part of something that makes someone feel that way,” Aguilar said, referring to the audience.
Being part of The Crossmen has taught Aguilar the importance of being detail-oriented and time management.
“They want to see your success, and you just always have to keep that in mind,” Aguilar said. “… It’s taught me that there are some things you have to do that just have to be done, no matter how hard or no matter how much they suck.”
Aguilar, now 15, will return to Waco High this fall as a sophomore. When he is not practicing with the school’s marching band, he performs with Mariachi Leones, a new mariachi ensemble that began last year.
His advice to younger students: Be confident.
“You have to be confident in everything you do because that will show up when people are trying to contract you, or when people are looking at you,” Aguilar said. “They won’t see your mistakes as much as how confident you are about them.”
His love of music was molded by attending his siblings’ concerts. Aguilar remembers tagging along to concerts with his siblings when they were Waco High students. Now, as a student, he performs under his brother Michael Aguilar who leads the Waco High mariachi band.
“They gave me a path,” Aguilar said. “I think I flourished on my own a bit because … I’m the most musically inclined person in my family now. To everyone else, it was a really fun activity, I think. But for me, it’s something I want to do with my whole life.”
As part of the Waco High mariachi ensemble, Aguilar has learned to play the guitarron. The experience has opened his eyes to the importance of hard work.
“But just to see the amount we progressed in one year made me so happy because I never thought that we could do that in that time span,” Aguilar said.
