Dont Give Up

Encouraged by supportive directors, a struggling student overcomes personal and musical challenges to lead the band.

- Diana Cervantes

My name is Diana Cervantes. I am 19 years old and originally from Tijuana, Mexico. I came to the United States on a Visa when I was just 10 years old, but it expired four years ago, making me an undocumented immigrant.

When I first joined the band at Northwest Community High School in Indianapolis, I didn’t even know how to put my instrument together. But within a year I was first chair, and then drum major. This is my story—much like my status in this country, it is still incomplete—but thanks to what I learned in band, I fight and work hard every day to someday make my dreams come true.

EARLY STRUGGLES

As a 7th grader at Broad Ripple Magnet High School in Indianapolis, I made friends who only wanted to skip school, and I got myself into trouble. My father decided to put me in an activity I didn’t like, hoping it would make me do better in school. My cousin was in band, and I felt like she was always “better” than me. I hated the attention and benefits she received while in band.

The first few months I was full of hate because I felt like I wasn’t made for band and was not good enough. I spoke to my band director Kelly Hershey about it, and her advice was, “Don’t give up on something you have never tried before.”

She put me in private lessons to see if I’d get better, but my biggest problem was that I hated playing the flute. That whole year was full of disappointments, and I was not even trying.