Being in the marching band isn't always easy. There are the early morning practices, the late night rehearsals, the uniforms, the drills, the dreaded band camp tan. Horns up! 8 to 5! Parade rest! Listen for phasing! You give up every Friday night for the fall semester, and for what? For the chance to be totally awesome -- that's what.

Working through rehearsals, games and festival season can pay off big time -- while you're in the band and after you hang up your horn. Here are a dozen reasons to put your plume on, lace up your roll-steppin' shoes and hit the field. Band, atten hut!

You'll forever have rhythm.

Sometimes it will happen by accident – like when you hear a song and immediately fall in step – but you'll always be able to find the beat.

You'll get to travel to cool places.

Band trips take you all sorts of cool places. Every been to Disney? Yep. How about NYC? Oh, yeah, I marched there once.

You'll learn a good amount about football.

Fan or not, you'll pick up a thing or two about the game. You might surprise yourself later in life by knowing the ins and outs, even if you only learned so you could tell how much longer you'd have to sit in the bleachers.

You'll learn a lot about music.

This one might seem obvious, but outside of learning your instrument or your routine, you're going to be introduced to different types of music from all eras. You don't have to tell people you know that song because you played it in band.

You'll become adaptable.

You'll be able to fix your instrument with stuff you find on the bus and change into your uniform wherever you have to. And those are skills you can carry with you for the rest of your life.

You'll be disciplined.

You don't want to be on the field all day learning drills. You know how to accomplish your tasks quickly and efficiently so you can move on to something else.

You'll meet other band geeks.

In your life you'll come across other former band geeks and somehow form an instant bond over mutual band experiences.

You'll be smarter.

Studying music can actually make your brain work better. You're not imagining it; marching band really is making you a smarter person.

You'll know how to dress for the weather.

Whether you're marching in Arizona or Alaska, you know how to check the forecast and dress accordingly. Sure, you might be wearing three pairs of spandex under your uniform, but you're warm.

You'll become enthusiastic.

When you get excited, you GET EXCITED! You've been trained for this. Let those emotions out and feel all of that enthusiasm coursing through you.

You'll learn how to live without sleep.

Working early the night after a big party? No problem. This is just like that time you had an away game Friday night and a parade halfway across the state Saturday morning.

You'll make lifelong friends.

And they'll get all of your weird band jokes.