As another season begins to wind down for the students in the marching band, they prepare for the Bands of America Grand Nationals Competition. According to Carrie Pawlovich, a drum major and senior, the competition will be held at Lucas Oil Stadium.

In the two-day competition, the marching band goes through a hectic schedule, spending hours at competition. According to Pawlovich, there is a preliminary round of over 500 bands on Friday that narrows down to a semifinal of 150 bands, leading to the final round on Saturday night.

This year the marching band will perform “What a Tangled Web We Weave”, which is based on the black widow spider, according to Chris Kreke, the assistant band director. “We’re extremely excited to perform this at Grand Nationals. The students have put in a lot of work into it,” he said.

Pawlovich said, “I think everyone has gone and pushed themselves to a level at which they thought they weren’t capable of.  It opens a whole new world of opportunity for you.”

The marching band’s performance on Friday and Saturday will be its final competition of the season. Pawlovich said, “I’ll really miss the people. I’ll miss the experience of doing something that is a sport for the performing arts. It’s a bittersweet feeling.”