By BLake Heeren-

When you think about summer as a teenager in high school, the first things that come to mind
are days on the beach or at the pool, the warmth of the sun, sleeping in, relaxing, hanging with
friends and possibly the most important thing, getting tan! Imagine a summer without those
things. A summer spent on a practice field all day or in a classroom. Sounds like it would be
horrible, right? Well Kindra Coreen Ockenfels-Houghtaling, currently a senior at Mount Vernon
High School, would beg to differ.

Ockenfels-Houghtaling spent the summer of 2010 in Dubuque at a camp. But this wasn’t just
any ordinary camp; this was a Drum and Bugle Corps. She participated in the cymbal line of this
marching band that consists of only percussion, brass and the color guard.

“I’ve always liked music. It’s fun,” Kindra said. Kindra participates in the high school band
where she plays two instruments, the trumpet and the bass clarinet.

“Kindra’s work ethic in band is very drum corps related. She demands the best out of herself,
and that raises the level for everyone else,” said band teacher, Bernard Moore, a former drum
corps member himself.

Ockenfels-Houghtaling has been surrounded by music the majority of her life. “Kindra first
showed an interest in music when she was first offered band, which was 4th or 5th grade,” said
Kindra’s mother, Janet.

Kindra’s drum corps adventure started when her cousin told her about it. Since she loves music,
she thought she should give it a try, even though it would mean giving up basically her entire
summer.

At the camp there were two different levels you could be in; you could audition for the World
Class Corps (the upper level of the two), or you could be in the Open Class Corps (the lower
level of the two and requires no audition). Kindra, although going into the lower level, still had
some difficulty. “It’s extremely difficult. It’s kind of like a sport, very physically demanding,”
she said. However, a lot of it is mental. Making it through the long, hot days out on the practice
field and in the classroom was no easy task.

Ockenfels-Houghtaling has decided to go to the University of Northern Iowa for music. Her
mother is very supportive of Kindra’s musical dreams; so are her six half siblings, father, and
both step-parents. When Kindra talked to her mother about being in a Drum Corps over the
summer, her mom thought it was a great idea. “Kindra is a hard worker. She enjoys taking on
new challenges.”

When Kindra isn’t practicing her instruments, she working at the local Dairy Queen, hanging out
with her friends, or on the golf course or shooting an arrow at a target.

Kindra believes that being in the drum corps has made her a better individual. “You have to be
very self-motivated and disciplined. It teaches comradery very well, as well as teaches you to be
more independent.”