2026 – Amari Perry – Herriman High School HS

Marching Madness

I come from a family of 7 which for me meant that my family has always been short on money. Despite both of my parents making over $150,000 combined in a year, we’ve never really had enough money to do things like extracurricular activities or buy extra stuff, just things in our price range and that’s it. This was especially heart breaking for me because I’ve always had a passion for music and when I learned that I could be a part of my high school marching band, I knew I had to do extra work for myself in order to do something I felt very passionate about. Although my parents were on board with me doing marching band, I had to pay for it myself as most of the money my parents were earning had to go towards bills and groceries and nothing more. So I applied for jobs left and right until I finally landed one as a sweeper at an elementary school where I made about 11 an hour my first year there. However because they only paid monthly, I was always behind on payments for my fees, and this really was taking an effect on my mental health. Because not only did I have a lot of AP and Honors homework to worry about, I was required to work 4 out of the 5 days a week along with having to practice memorizing my music for marching band and get payments for marching band done before the season ended. This was one of the most stressful times of my life as I had to juggle so much in my life, but I was able to overcome this stressful time by always reminding myself that I was doing this for something I loved and although it was tough then it would get better in the future. Additionally when my neighbor heard about what I was doing, she offered to help pay for some of my fees as she didn’t want me to be overboarded with so many things at once. As soon as she started helping me out she also helped me figure out a study schedule for days I needed to get my work done and days I should be practicing music. With her help that school year went from stressful and overwhelming to manageable. This helped me grow as a person as I learned how to balance my job and my passions in a manageable way and I learned how to appreciate the people around me more as without my neighbor I probably wouldn’t have been able to continue doing marching band and or would be in a darker place.