Since the day he first picked up a drum major mace baton as a member of his high school marching band in Stockton, California, Jackson Goudreau has been on a life-changing journey that has led him to the heights of success and to places across the globe.
His talents and the intricate routines he has performed at drum major competitions over the last 14 years led to him becoming a state champion in California and, most recently in 2024 and 2025, the winner of back-to-back titles as U.S. Drum Major Champion.
And in August, in the midst of pursuing his dream of becoming a doctor, the second-year student at Western Michigan University Homer Stryker M.D. School of Medicine (WMed) took a trip across the Atlantic Ocean to represent the United States at the World Drum Major Championships, held as part of the World Pipe Band Championships at Glasgow Green in Scotland.
His routine, performed in front of several hundred people on Saturday, August 16, 2025, earned him compliments from the judges and was good enough to garner a 25th place finish among 50 competitors. He also received an invite to return next year.
“It was a great and humbling experience and I’ve got an opportunity to continue building up and reaching toward more goals,” Goudreau said. “It was my first time out there performing on the world stage and I want to make sure I get everything locked in for next year.”
Prior to the competition, Goudreau got the chance to spend nearly a week in Scotland with his mother, stepfather, and brother. They visited St. Andrews, Edinburgh, and a few smaller towns outside of Glasgow Green. His family was with him too on competition day, watching as he put his routine up against those of other drum majors from countries that included Scotland, Ireland, and South Africa, among others.
For Goudreau, the international competition was a pinnacle moment that was more than a decade in the making.
His first experience as a drum major came in high school and by the time he was a senior he had been crowned the California State Champion. His skills continued to improve as an undergraduate student at UC-Santa Cruz as he began teaching others the art of being a drum major.
“I got substantially better after high school because I was teaching and that was the catalyst that built me up as a performer,” Goudreau said.
The success he experienced as a student at Stockton High School carried over as a coach while in college as he helped students at Santa Cruz High School capture back-to-back drum major state championships.
In 2021, Goudreau made the decision to begin competing professionally as a drum major on the Scottish Circuit. At the same time, he got the chance in 2022 and 2023 to serve as a chief adjudicator for high school drum major competitions as a member of the Northern California Band Association Board of Directors. By 2024 and 2025, Goudreau’s decision to compete professionally had led to his back-to-back titles as U.S. Drum Major Champion.
Goudreau credits his success on the national and international stages to his ability to throw his mace 25 to 30 feet in the air quickly. He has also created – and worked tirelessly to perfect - two signature moves he calls the guillotine toss and the parallel inversion. In May 2025, Goudreau wowed the crowd at HeART of WMed, the medical school’s annual art showcase, with a routine that drew cheers and gasps from the crowd.
“I think there has always been a focus on execution for me,” Goudreau said.
Goudreau’s two titles as U.S. Drum Major Champion caught the eye of a judge from Scotland who invited him to this year’s international competition at Glasgow Green. After he received the invite, Goudreau put in the work, practicing at least two hours per day and running through his moves and routines on the top level of a parking garage located near his apartment in downtown Kalamazoo.
“It was kind of shocking at first because you dream about those types of things,” Goudreau said of the invite to compete in Scotland. “It was also really humbling to have my hard work recognized like that. I’ve sunk thousands of hours into practice.”
Those hours of practice will continue for Goudreau as he looks ahead to the 2026 competition in Scotland. He said he plans to start his preparation for the event sooner this time around with the overall goal of finishing better than 25th and the ultimate goal of winning it all.
In the meantime, Goudreau’s pursuit of his MD degree at the medical school will also continue. There’s no doubt, he said, that his work his to perfect his craft as a drum major serves him well as an aspiring physician and will continue to do so well after medical school and residency training.
“I think the artform of drum majoring instills in everyone a sense of precision and command that is innate in the activity and that pays off in spades in a medical situation when the pressure is on and you’re able to go from point A to point B as strongly as possible,” he said. “As a medical student, it’s an activity that also provides me with balance and reminds me that life isn’t just a bunch of flash cards. It provides me with an opportunity to be a quiet leader who is able to take command when the need is there and that type of leadership style echoes everywhere.”