For decades, Kent Broussard had dreamed about joining LSU’s marching band.
But, as dreams far too often go, it fell to the wayside. That is, until Broussard retired.
After years of hard work—including taking up running with a weighted vest, marching through his neighborhood while hauling a 30-pound sousaphone, applying and getting accepted to LSU as a student and relearning his instrument—the retired accountant made his debut on the field of Tiger Stadium during the football team’s home opener Saturday.
The 66-year-old LSU student is now the marching band’s oldest member ever and proof that it is never too late to chase your dream.
Broussard is no stranger to music. He played the sousaphone (a type of tuba designed for marching) in his high school band and at Southeastern Louisiana University until he graduated, but that was back in 1980. As Broussard neared retirement in 2023, he thought about what he wanted to do next.
“As you get older, you contemplate where your life is going to head in retirement,” Broussard told The Associated Press. “I think back about how fast life has gone by … and thinking about something that I always wanted to do, but just didn’t get a chance to do it.”
