She’s the leader of the band

EDITORS: Photos available on request.

ANN ARBOR—In the 100-year plus history of the Michigan
After auditioning for the coveted title for three years, Karen England of Greenville, Mich., was elected by her fellow band members as drum major, a first for the ensemble that made its initial appearance on a football field in 1898 and didn’t admit women to its ranks until 1972.

England”I wanted this more than anything in the world,” England says. “Over the last few years I knew I was going to have to make the band my number one priority. That preparation will help me this fall in working with the MMB students and staff, some of the finest leaders at U-M. I am so fortunate to work with and for these people.”

Leadership is nothing new to the 22-year-old, fourth-year student majoring in astronomy and astrophysics with hopes of joining the country’s astronaut team. She also led her high school band for two years before donning the maize and blue of the MMB where she played clarinet. In her junior high years England was a member of the Greenville Young Astronauts, led by a teacher who had worked for NASA. Together they joined hundreds of other youngsters at Space Camp in Huntsville, Ala. There England and one other in the class of 200 received the prized “Right Stuff Award” signifying who has the “right stuff” to become an astronaut. The Greenville students even ran a 24-hour mock space mission at their school, eating military food and allowed to leave the “shuttle” only for bathroom privileges. The group raised money for field trips to NASA sites such as the Lewis Research Center and Marshall Space Flight Center.

Her high school didn’t offer such challenges, but England’s interest never waned. “One of the reasons I chose U-M was because of the opportunities I would have here as opposed to any other school,” England says. Her years at U-M haven’t been easy. Without a solid background in upper-level physics, she really started from scratch. “During my intro courses, I was encouraged by many people to switch majors,” England says, “but this is really what I want to do with my life. It’s what I really believe in. Even though my classes have been so hard, Michigan has offered me the chance to stay involved in space science.”

England took advantage of U-M’s Space Grant Consortium, an outreach project funded by NASA and designed for university students to teach younger students about space through workshops on gliders, wind tunnels, rockets, and problem solving exercises.

Last year England joined a team that participated in the NASA Reduced Gravity Student Flight Opportunities Program (RGSFO). She learned about the project through the Michigan Students for Exploration and Development of Space (SEDS). “We studied the production of Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes in a reduced gravity environment,” England says. The team traveled to Johnson Space Center in Houston for two weeks where they “hung out” with astronauts and sat in on talks. While some of the teams tested their experiment in reduced gravity aboard NASA’S kc-135 a/k/a the “vomit comet,” England remained grounded. “I did not go because I spent the first half of the year when the team was working on the experiment working with the band,” she says. “I was still fortunate to go. I met Gene Kranz, flight director of Apollo 13. That was amazing.”

Contrary to the image of the drum major as just a figurehead, England is well aware of the responsibilities that come with leading one of the nation’s premier marching bands. England, as past drum majors have, instructs section leaders in the fundamentals of arching in the U-M tradition and this year hopes to involve more physical training measures in the program. She is especially concerned that members are fit, that their feet and ankle muscles have been strengthened to endure the high-stepping marching techniques and that the band’s members adhere to nutritional regimens that will keep their energy level high and their bodies well hydrated. Proper hydration is particularly important during the early part of the performance season, England says, when temperatures in Michigan Stadium are high and the band is clad in its wool uniforms.

England in the traditional back bend executed by Michigan Marching Band drum majors at the beginning of each football game”I am always in excellent shape for the season,” England says, “but it never fails. That first pre-game in September with the uniform on, the hat on my head, the sun beating down on us, and all my air going into an instrument, got me every time.”

England’s own fitness regimen includes “running” the stairs of the stadium, lifting weights every other day, strength training, and a series of stretching exercises that enable her to perform the deep backbends and high kicks that are so much a part of the band’s tradition.

Fitness doesn’t stop with physical conditioning. Mental fitness is important to members of the MMB, too. England, and the other band members, visualize the entire show before each performance. “I feel I was most prepared for tryouts this year as opposed to any other year because I had prepared mentally as well as physically,” she says.

Honored and proud that the MMB acknowledged her skills as a marching band member and her leadership qualities, England is also well aware that she has become a role model for young women who aspire to succeed in areas that have previously been male dominated. Her advice to young women who approach any challenge comes from a quote her mother gave her—one she reads every day. “First ask yourself what you want; then you have to do it.”

“I truly believe it can be that simple. You use the ‘goal’ quote as a mental tool. If you acknowledge what you want to do and put your mind to it, you can reach that goal. Don’t let those who came before you or what’s generally accepted prevent you from following your dreams. If you want something, do it to the best of your ability. Do it for you and let others worry about the politics.”

Karen EnglandNASASpace Grant ConsortiumReduced Gravity Student Flight Opportunities Program