Silks
Christina Kuemerle
My name is Christina Kuemerle and I’m a rising senior! I am a Spanish major with a dance minor on the premedical track. This is my fourth and final year in the TMB and my second year as a Silk section leader. I can hardly wait for football season this fall! My favorite memory while in the band was the 2022 UCLA game. We were on the edge of our seats all night and I don’t think I have ever screamed and celebrated as much as I did the moment we won. I’m really looking forward to winning against UCLA again this year 😉
I chose USC—and I swear I’m not making this up—because I wanted to join the TMB! I joined color guard my sophomore year of high school and knew that I wanted to be a part of a college marching band. There are surprisingly few with color guard programs and USC was the only school on my list with a flag team. Of course, I also wanted to study Spanish in an area with a large population of Spanish speaks, loved USC’s energetic atmosphere, and was ready to move to sunny Los Angeles from my home state of Ohio.
Some fun facts about me are that I completed three seasons in Drum Corps International (Legends 2018, Blue Knights 2021, Bluecoats 2022) and I studied abroad in Quito, Ecuador in spring of 2023!
Chinyere Okeke
My name is Chinyere Okeke and I am a rising 4th year both at USC and in the TMB! I’m majoring in Health and Human Sciences and minoring in Healthcare Studies on the premedical track. I’m also pursuing a Master’s in Public Health through the progressive degree program.
I’m super excited to be one of the 2023 Silk section leaders! One of my all time favourite memories in band was attending our end of the year bandquet in 2022! Getting the chance to dress up and hang out with my friends while reminiscing on the past season was such a wonderful experience (and the fact that we won Section of the Year didn’t hurt either!).
Growing up in Texas, “USC” had always been the University of South Carolina to me, so I had no idea Southern California was a school until application season rolled around my senior year! I found out about USC through Questbridge, and ultimately decided to commit as it actually ended up being the cheapest school for me to attend. In middle and high school, I played a variety of instruments ranging from winds like flute and saxophone to percussion and piano. My high school band director encouraged me to join the TMB as an alto saxophone, and I almost did so until I came across a video of the Silks and fell in love! I didn’t have a marching band at high school so I never knew what a colour guard was, but I’m forever grateful to have stumbled upon both the university and the band when choosing where to spend the next four years of my life at 🙂
When I’m not marching in the band, you can probably catch me giving tours as a student ambassador, leading events with the USC Helenes, working with student athletes as an athletic medicine student trainer, or hanging out with LAUSD students with Troy Camp! I can’t wait to see you at band camp and at USC! Fight on! <3