Screaming. Cheering. Tears.

The echoes of the crowd cheering and shouting. The school name filling up the Alamodome while the bright lights above the band  flashing down on the turf field. The moment is frozen in the minds of the band members forever. The feeling of the UIL State Marching Contest will never be forgotten. 

But after the contest and after the trip, the moment many band members looked forward to was what happened in a small room, tucked away from the main band hall. The moment when band members got to order their letter jackets. All the time, all the work and all the practice results in a lifetime of memories and a bright new shiny leather with a single name embroidered on the left side of it. 

The jackets arrived last week and the halls are filled with the black and purple symbol of success.

“When I saw my name on in the top right corner of my jacket laying on the floor it felt like all of the hard work paid off,” freshman Jesse Ramos said. “We also endured a lot, and now I have something to show off for it .”

The fresh new jackets seemed to call the names of the mostly freshmen and sophomores who ordered their jackets. 

“I know I will be wearing it a lot because even though it is hot outside I still wear it,” freshman Sophia Cruz said. “It gives me a special feeling inside.”

Letter jackets are often reserved for the top dogs at school, but a lot of underclassmen are wearing them after the state trip.

“It’s a love hate relationship because it looks nice, but all of the freshman are wearing them 24/7,” Ramos said. “It kinda took the joy away in wearing them to show them off .”

The ordering process can be harder for some, but the end result makes it worth the hassle. 

“When the three day ordering process was going on, I was sick and missed all three days to order at school,” Cruz said.  “I had to order my letterman over the phone, so it was really hard to describe what patches and stuff I wanted on it.”