I’m sure any student in the Kingston High School Band would say that the band hallway is one of the places they feel most safe and happy. I’m one of those students. It’s a place to escape the ruins of a crumbling school upstairs and the teachers that walk its halls.

In the hallway, band geeks can be themselves and hang out with each other without needing a hall pass or reason. It’s a place to gather and converse with people we know and those who share our common interest in music. I find these people there when I wander down for eighth period. They are some of my best friends. Most of them visit their lockers before getting to class to play. Every locker is made the same, but they’re each so different from the next. The words and pictures on them are like memories of inside jokes the upperclassmen may remember and the others don’t. Sometimes they might as well be ancient scriptures from generations of our kind before us. Every one of those lockers has a different story as well as something that ties them together, just like every one of us.

As I descend the stairs, I immediately feel much more calm. The atmosphere is much different from upstairs and the air is noticeably less tense. We still have our freedom, for the most part, and I hope that never changes.

The color of the walls may be another reason the band hallway is my sanctuary. It’s my favorite color, light blue, and I feel so separate when I’m there--as if it’s not part of the school anymore. The color suits the hallway well, as if it’s underwater, unused by people it doesn’t concern.

Sometimes the hallway is loud. This is when band kids are going to their lockers in the afternoon before band and when they’re getting their instruments. Other times there are odd notes from a trumpet coming from the band room or the office and otherwise there’s no sound.

If I could, I would spend every period of every day in that band hallway. It holds so many memories, none of them bad. It’s where we get ready for competitions and where we meet up with our friends. It’s in the center of the school and it’s convenient and friendly there. It’s like a perfect world where everyone is friends with everyone else, and new members and friends are always welcome.