When moving across the U.S. as a child from Texas, Maryland, and Georgia, one thing has always stayed constant for Lily Mitchell: being herself. Whether it be through music, band, school or soccer, she finds passion in everything she does working hard along the way to do so.

TKC: What are three things you can’t live without?

LM: Even though I hate to say it, probably my phone. I rely on it a lot to communicate with people. Then, probably my car and definitely music. When I don’t know what to do with myself, most of the time I listen to music. I am always surrounded by music in my life, so I don’t know what I would do if I didn’t have it.

TKC: What made you love music?

LM: As a kid, my mom always had music on. I was always used to walking around the house and having it on in the background. That led me to need music to focus.

TKC: What do you like to do in your free time?

LM: I am really involved in band so I don’t have much free time. I play the snare drum and am leader of the drumline, so most of the time I am either practicing drums or at soccer practice. Other than that, I like to binge TV shows and play video games with my friends.

TKC: What made you want to start band?

LM: When I lived in Maryland, we watched our fifth grade band perform and they came out and started playing a song on buckets. They were having so much fun and I wanted to [as well], so I signed up. 

TKC:What is something you like about band?

LM: I love Friday night football games: just the environment, the adrenaline you get from the game, playing the cadences and everyone cheering when I have my solo on the drums. It always puts a smile on my face. Before halftime is great because the drumline chants “Where my dogs at?” and we all get riled up before we go on the field. The first couple of steps are nerve-racking, but once you start marching you have fun and can live in the moment. Most of the time I don’t even remember how the performance went because I was so into it. I don’t focus on playing, I just focus on the atmosphere around me.

TKC: Do you think band is a sport?

LM: No, I love band, but people who say band is a sport are dumb.

TKC: Do you want to continue band after high school?

LM: I love marching band and want to do it in college. When looking into colleges, I first look academically, and then if it has a good drumline, it’s a huge bonus. Right now my top school is Carnegie Mellon University. They have a kilt drumline, that sounds hilarious.

TKC: What would your advice be to someone starting band?

LM: Keep practicing. In order to be good at band you have to practice a lot. Most of the time people underestimate the amount of time that goes into band. Also, just be social with people because if you make friends, it is really easy to have a good time. 

TKC: If you could be someone for a day who would it be?

LM: I would want to be Freddie Mercury because he was such a rockstar and he made music everyone knows. He loved what he did and everyone will remember him for it. He just had fun on stage.

TKC: Where do you want to live when you are older?

LM: I want to live somewhere internationally. I’ve been to France, so I would love to live on the coast of Normandy, or even New Zealand.

TKC: Would you rather: time travel to the past or time travel into the future?

LM: Into the future. We already know what happened in the past, it’s in the history books, but we don’t know what is happening in the future. In the future you can see all the new stuff we invent and how things have changed. 

TKC: What do you want to be remembered for?

LM: For doing something for the community and making it better. There is so much controversy going on in the world, so if I could just do one thing to help ease it, that would be cool.

TKC: What is one thing you wish people knew about you?

LM: How hard I try to be good at stuff. A lot of people just assume others are naturally talented, but in reality, I am always practicing drums, practicing soccer or doing homework. I try to be good at stuff, it doesn’t always come easy to me.