Prairie View A&M University News March 9, 2022 Same beat, different drums: Twin PVAMU engineering majors continue family’s Marching Storm legacy After 22 years together, twins Sheldon and William Scott still have plenty in common – including a passion for percussion. “My earliest memory is probably me and my brother playing with [drum]sticks when we were really young,” Sheldon said. “We wanted to be drummers.” And that they are. Both Sheldon and William are on the drumline and are section leaders for Prairie View A&M University’s Marching Storm<https://www.pvamu.edu/marchingstorm/> band. Sheldon plays snare drums. William plays tenor drums. Marching band is literally in their blood. The boys’ parents, Yvette and William Sheldon Scott, met while in the Marching Storm themselves, where Yvette played flute, and William Sheldon played drums. Perhaps this line will continue for Sheldon, who met his girlfriend in Marching Storm. “Cheyenne plays the saxophone,” he said with a smile. Whether at church or home, music was a large part of the Scotts’ family life. Yvette can sing, and William and Sheldon’s sisters know how to play the flute. “If we don’t do music,” William said, “what else are we going to do?” Well, how about becoming engineers? Both Sheldon and William are top students in the mechanical engineering program in PVAMU’s Roy G. Perry College of Engineering<https://www.pvamu.edu/engineering/>. “[PVAMU produces] some of the most successful Black engineers in the nation,” William said. “I wanted to go somewhere I knew I could be successful.” “William and Sheldon Scott are extremely talented,” Dean Pamela Obiomon said about the twins. “By having to manage daily band rehearsal, memorize music, and have long game days on top of a full engineering course load, William and Sheldon have developed valuable skills that will make them exceptional engineers. We are immensely proud of them and know that they will make major impacts in their careers.” In their senior years, Sheldon and William hope to combine their engineering and musical skills post-graduation, but in different ways. “I want to try to do something like sound engineering,” William said. “Movies have sound engineers. Without sound, you don’t really have a movie. It might not be infrastructure, but it’s very important in entertainment. Most people don’t realize the value of a great sound engineer until you hear a mistake.” Case in point, William said, is the recently released movie “Dune.” “The audio is weird,” William said. “It made headlines because the sound engineers messed up.” Sheldon is interested in the engineering aspect of a hot real estate trend: tiny homes. “Engineering is a lot of hard numbers, but I’m also a creative person,” Sheldon said. “The mindset of music is definitely something I want to keep with me forever.” PVAMU Director of Bands Timmey Zachery said William and Sheldon are amazing students and amazing leaders. They feel the same about “Dr. Zach,” whose appearance on The CW’s new docu-series show “March<https://www.cwtv.com/shows/march/view-in-app/?play=a8f502f0-6657-4f8f-ae29-94309a564b57>” portrays him as a mentor to the entire band, encouraging them to be the best they can be. “He truly cares about his students and finds ways for us to be successful,” Sheldon said. “Just being part of the HBCU (Historically Black Colleges and Universities) culture, we’re seen differently than most people. Showing the things we go through and the connections we have with each other, it really sheds light on how difficult things can be but how the end result on the field is a combination of the hard work we put in.” The Marching Storm has a long history of prestigious performances, including the 2001 Presidential Inauguration, the Rose Bowl Parade, Superbowl XLV, and many more. The band, more than 80-years old and 300 students strong, is known for its high-energy routines and dazzling choreography. “Honestly, those who have witnessed the power of the Marching Storm have become a part of one of the greatest gifts Prairie View, Texas, has to offer. For me, it literally birthed who I am, led me to who I’m going to be, and I hope that what I leave behind will lead others to something great, as well,” Sheldon said. Sandra M. Phoenix, Executive Director HBCU Library Alliance 678-210-5801 (office) 404-702-5854 (cell) http://www.hbculibraries.org<http://www.hbculibraries.org/> sphoenix@hbculibraries.org<mailto:sphoenix@hbculibraries.org> Seek justice, honor the ancestors, honor the children and those yet to come. Follow us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/hbculibraryalliance1/ and Twitter at https://twitter.com/HBCULibAlliance Check out "PULSE!" The HBCU Library Alliance's News Source! - https://hbculibraryalliance.wordpress.com/