Victor Soto and Jessica Gonzalez are Southwestern College students who march to a different drummer. And they direct the drummer themselves.
Soto, 19, a music major, and Gonzalez, 19, a dance major, volunteer for music programs at local secondary schools. They’ve been drumming up a lot of support.
Soto, spends his afternoons with the Castle Park High School Trojan Brigade marching band, an ensemble that performs for the school’s football and basketball games, pep rallies and field show competitions. He teaches drums and tuba, as well as music theory.
“Talent is not always in you, you have to work for it,” he said. “I volunteer at Castle Park because I simply love music and I know what it feels like to be part of an unsuccessful program.”
Soto joined the Mariachi program at SWC where he gained experience that helped him become a better instructor in the Trojan Brigade, he said.
Being in charge of a young group of students is not an easy task, Soto said. He has to be strict in order to get students competitive. Work comes before friendship.
“If someone wants to meet a goal, they are going to need discipline more than anything,” he said. “When it’s time to practice I’m a coach, not a friend.”
Richard Kellis, music director of the marching band in Castle Park High School, called Soto a great help.
“Having a student as a coach is the best way to go, mainly because it is the way marching bands run, with college students taking the lead,” he said. “College students are sometimes paid for their services and other times we can’t pay them, so we ask for volunteers and their work is greatly appreciated.”
Soto’s youth is not a factor, Kellis said.
“For the most part they did understand a college student was their mentor, but then again they are at an age where they disrespect everyone due to feeling superior,” he said.
Gonzalez has taken her passion to Montgomery Middle School where she assists the color guard, a program that accompanies the school’s marching band when performing. When she learned that Montgomery Middle School had no color guard program, she said she took that matter into her own hands. Gonzalez and a friend began posting flyers to recruit.
“I love teaching color guard and dance,” she said. “I love being able to teach them things that they can remember and do because it makes them feel good and for me that’s rewarding.”
Goals of the program include teaching color guard fundamentals. Gonzalez said she taught students dance routines with flags to the student’s favorite songs to create energy and fun.
“I have so much passion for it,” she said. “I think it’s amazing to teach younger kids what I love to do because they can continue, grow and become stronger.”