Cadet Brianna Rodger is pursuing a love of music this summer and is enjoying meeting a lot of like-minded people.

“I’ve liked listening to live marching band music since I was at least four years old,” she said. “I used to stop when we used to go to the Christmas parades and wait for them to come by and I would smile every time I saw them.”

Rodger is a cadet of 57 Stormont Dundas and Glengarry Royal Canadian Army Cadet Corps from Vankleek Hill. She has been a cadet for about eight months. She is taking the Introduction to Pipe Band Course at Blackdown Cadet Training Centre (CTC), located at Canadian Forces Base Borden near Barrie.

She is no stranger to music, she played in a band last Christmas in a parade.

For this course, she is learning about how to play the snare drum.

While on the course, she wants to explore a few different instruments, to “see which ones I like better,” she said.

Musicians can learn about several instruments in the course, there are the bagpipes, snare drums, bass drums, and tenor drums.

She talked about coming to the training centre.

“This has been a new experience for me, I really like it,” she said. “Having bunks is really cool and having nice roommates is great.”

“It’s great experiencing all these new experiences that others don’t get to experience,” she said “I think it’s really worth the six-hour drive to get here.”

Ultimately, she wants to perform in front of others.

“Not necessarily in a pipe band,” she said. “Any band would be awesome.”

The cadets on the course will be performing for audiences a couple of times throughout their time at the CTC.

Her biggest goal is to make her mom proud of her.

“My goal is to make my mom proud, and show her that I can do this,” she said. “I want to show off my new talents and be able to do something I have always wanted to do as a kid.”

She credits the Cadet Program with her making some positive changes in her life.

“It makes me a stronger person,” she said. “You also get to know people you would have never met.”

“I’m a little less shy now.”

The Cadet Program is open to all youth between the ages of 12-18 years old and develops confident, self-sufficient leaders who form lasting friendships and are engaged in their communities, while promoting physical fitness, healthy living, and fostering an interest in the activities of the Canadian Armed Forces. If you are ready for the challenge, visit www.canada.ca/join-cadets.