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Graphic courtesy of: Sophia Medvid

The  has selected rising senior Sophia Medvid as its first female field commander to lead the marching band to be “better than the best ever.” 

The field commander is in charge of how the band looks visually, according to Medvid, and making sure incoming freshmen know the Marching 110 style, which she says is different from other marching bands as it’s more athletic and requires a lot of energy. 

“The field commander is also the hype-man for the band, you know, at the end of the day they always give a hype speech and they always encourage the band to keep pushing and be better,” Medvid added. 

Medvid, who plays the mellophone, was chosen for the highest-level student staff position from a list of more than 50 potential candidates. According to Joshua Boyer, assistant director for the Marching 110, there are a few things they look for in a field commander: They have to at least be a fourth-year band member, and they’d like them to have had a student staff leadership position the year prior.

Boyer noted the fact that the band’s new field commander is a woman is fantastic — but that had nothing to do with their decision. They wanted someone who would build upon the band’s foundation, someone who has ideas to make the Marching 110 better than the best, and someone who best embodies the Marching 110 spirit of engaging with the band and community. 

They found all of that in Medvid. 

“It’s never been a gender thing at all, it just happened to be what it was for all these years,” Boyer explained. “We’ve had numerous females who were highly considered in the past.”

Ever since Medvid joined the band her freshman year, she has looked up to the field commander and has admired their influence on the band. The astrophysics major said she’s excited to set an example for the freshmen and represent the Marching 110.

A Charlotte, North Carolina, native, Medvid said she started her musical career in seventh grade. Once she found the brotherhood that is a marching band, she never looked back. Medvid marched the entirety of her high school career, but the Marching 110 holds a special place in her heart.

“I’ve never been a part of such a close-knit group of people like the Marching 110, and the best way to spend your college years is in a marching band,” she added. 

For four years, Medvid has also been a member of and has held leadership positions with , a nonprofit organization dedicated to junior drum corps activity.

Medvid will begin her role a week before Fall Semester begins, training incoming freshmen during what they call Fundamentals.  

She wants to have the best freshmen class of the Marching 110 yet.

“We were thrilled to have Sophia selected, she’s going to do a fantastic job,” Boyer said. “When the announcement was made, the vibe in the room, immediately you could sense the respect that she’s going to get from the group just from their reactions, as well as the online reactions from our alumni were very, very positive.”