Had to do somethin.,.....
Riding on a bus with thirty different girls for two and a half hours was fun but at the same time nerve wrecking. I gazed out the window listening to my cd player trying to tone out the loud, squeaky voices in the background. Trying to get motivated and focused on the big day that lies ahead. We were on our way to the South Eastern Color Guard Circuit in Chattanooga, Tennessee for the biggest winter guard competition, championships. It made me terrified, knowing that all of the other competitions we participated in this past year were all just practices to get ready for this big day. It made me terrified. It all came down to the best of the best.
All of a sudden the bus came to a stop. I opened my eyes to see heaven, a pizza hut and a taco bell in the same building! I sat in the back of the bus and had to wait for what seemed like forever to get off. When I finally got off the bus, I paced myself to the door because I knew that there would already me a line of people standing there when I got in. As I walked through the door, my prediction was correct, a plethora of people. " Just great," I said to myself. Just my luck though, everyone was standing in the Taco Bell line. So I decided to go for the pizza. After I paid for my food I sat down to eat with Bridgette and Jessica, who were the two other seniors in the guard. Since I spent most of the hour that we had standing in line waiting to order plus the extra ten minutes I had to wait for the food, I had to quickly gobble down my pizza, before we had to get back on the road.
We got back onto the bus, feeling ballooned, and we all wondered if we could fit into our uniforms. We still had at least another hour or two before we got to the hotel, so it was okay. I put my headphones back on my head, and decided to catch up on some shuteye. A quick jerk to my seat woke me up with a fright.
The LWC Color Guard depends on the capability of its captains and how well they can do their job as a section leader. A leader, in general, is someone who many people look to for advice, instruction, motivation, and most importantly, encouragement. This means that it is important for a leader to have the ability to make difficult decisions and do what is best for the color guard. An essential job of a leader is to guide others as well as being an example of a hard, passionate, and dedicated worker. Some qualities that are necessary for a color guard captain are compassion, character, and courage.
I was smiling and laughing while many on the plane were vomiting. This was the most fun I’d had on a flight, but not everyone seemed to share my excitement. They had good reason for anxiety; we had endured a turbulent, and were now circling Columbus unable to land. This started my experience at Winter Guard International World Championships in my junior year.
As more of my teammates began to show up, I recognized most of them. However, I learned later that if I went on to play in the Spring, this would not be the same exact team I would play with. With only twenty minutes until we began,I put on all of my gear and my dad gave me a thorough warm up. Time seemed to fly by, and before I knew it, everyone was gathered together as positions were being assigned. I was originally overwhelmed with excitement, but as the game drew closer, the joy I had felt was replaced with anxiety. The lacrosse game taking place before ours ended and we entered and took our place on our bench. I recognized the opposing team’s jerseys quickly and identified them as a travel team from our area. Taking one final breath, I rushed into the lacrosse net enjoying my bird’s eye view, unsure of what was to
From before day one, all our minds were set. This was the year to win a State Championship. I can’t exactly explain it, but right from the start I knew we were going to do it. I was never so sure about anything in my life and I never doubted it once. Yet it was a silent confidence, which I kept to myself. Though each of us was confident about winning state, we had much to work through before we made it there.
The zamboni finished, the ice was fresh and we were ready to rip it up. The game was back and forth with many penalties and many screaming parents. We were up in the second period and of course it seemed like time never moved. As the finals seconds were ticking down you could feel the energy in the arena incline. The buzzer finally rang out. We were provincial champions, my dream had come true. I raced at my team and they raced back. We met in the middle in a huge huddle, some already crying and some laughing and screaming. I stood there in shock as everyone hugged each other. I went of the season in my head, I went through all the past games, all the team that would be traveling home right now as they thought of how they could have done better, I thought about the team who had got silver, still a big accomplishment but they would be disappointed as well. Then I thought about my team and how every individual gave in their all out on that ice today. I thought about how proud I was to be a
I tried out for color guard in March of 2016. My experience with joining color guard has been one of the best decisions that I have made so far in my life. Not only has it changed me as a person, it has changed the way I look at situations. It sounds weird that an activity could change so much in my life, but it truly has. And it has made me a better person because of it.
I knew that this show was going to be nerve wrecking, because of the prior practices. I had never felt so nervous in my life when I was waiting for my band director to call us to attention. When we did hear him, in response, all of our bodies snapped into position, very sharp and crisp. At the same time, our voices yelled out a quick “pride!” that echoed in the trees like a canyon. That was showtime, we had to show the judges what we were made of. Our feet moved and our marching band had taken the field. My line and I had marched out in silence, looking forward and never down. We landed on the forty yard line and was marking time very anxiously.
Attention Statement: How many of you have seen or heard of the Disney movie, “Cadet Kelly?” For those of you that have not seen the movie, there’s girl named Kelly that goes off to military school, and while she’s there she develops an interest in drill team, which in the movie, involves a group of people doing various marching drills and spinning rifles. During high school, I was a part of something similar but a little less militaristic, and a little bit more artistic, called color guard.
That week of torture really put a toll on me. I did not want to embarrass myself on the field. “Why did I run for Homecoming Queen if my senior class barely likes me?” was the question in my head. As I walked on the field with my mother holding my arm, I felt like a loser already. When my principle said “2014 Homecoming Queen is,” I heard a Bing in my ears and my eyes went blank. I heard my own thoughts from my mind, “You lost, you lost.” When I came back to reality all I saw my best friend in the footballs stands with tears in her eyes. “2014 Homecoming Queen is Tiana Oakman-Tucker’. I was aghast, tears rolled down my face.
My hands get clammy and emotions are running wild. When they call my team we all run out frantically and realize there's one last chance with this team, one last chance with this routine, some athletes final shot at the state championship! The lights gleam bright and it is time to do my job and put faith in my team to do the same. Two minutes and thirty seconds go by and that's the end of it all… walking off the mat knowing I did the best I can do and the rest is in the judge's hands. Sitting at awards, waiting desperately as they call each team third, second, and first place goes to Carrollton high school! The drop of my stomach and the tears that ran down my face. I was so shocked all the fame and victory made all the hard work worth
Instead, as this year’s drill captain, I will try to help the underclassmen understand the “pride, tradition, and courage,” of Tumwater High School the way that others have taught me in the past. My mind has changed considerably over the last three years that I have participated in drill. I know now that the most valuable prize is not the win, but the ride. It is the entire process leading up to the competition, and winning is simply an added bonus that you do not always receive. The prize is the pride you feel in a team despite the fact that we lost our district, state, and regional title in a single season. The prize is growing closer to each other through the losses and receiving those losses with dignity. After we went home from Regionals I wrote a poem for my team and this was the final
"C'mon, Chris, you get in the shower first," Taylor ordered from the other bed. "You're already up." Chris conceded and worked his way to the shower. Everyone in the room knew it too, due to his grunting and whining under his breath. Soon enough he was out of the shower and so were Taylor, Anders, and I. We ate breakfast with the rest of the team downstairs in the hotel in silence. It was too early to talk or chat. Everyone knew that one thing was going to be on their minds: winning. It was not worth discussing, either. Everyone knew that our varsity eight was possibly the strongest that McCallie had ever had, and that we had a good chance of winning some gold medals that day, if not a great chance. We loaded on the bus like ants, noiselessly flowing into one little opening. The bus ride was silent all of the way over as well. Everyone's heads, looking intently forward, were slightly jostling along with the bumps in the road. Some tried to sleep, but the tension and excitement was too much for most of them to be successful.
I quickly hopped off the train afraid the doors would shut on me. I walked up the stairs cautiously with Duke in my arms and recalled the homeless man sleeping on the floor in the same spot. I stopped and watched him sleep peacefully and remembered how Jimmy would tease him by poking his back whenever he was asleep.
At last we had brought all our practicing skills into work at the final stages. After working hard for three solid months it all paid off, the competing mat was beneath our feet. It was as if I could almost hear the girl?s hearts thumping before we walked onto the mat. I couldn?t stop smiling, I had the biggest grin on my face as if I were the cat who just ate the canary. Only when I thought that was enough, my facial expressions were amazing, all the nights I spent in front of the mirror or watching my self through the reflection of the glass door in my kitchen. It?s hard to go first because watching all the other teams compete makes you think, how did I do?
“Wake up, wake up!” as the shrill loud shouts echoed through my ears. My eyes, puffy and tired slowly opened, only to reveal a tall and blurry figure standing in front of me. It was the bus driver, telling me it was the last stop. I looked around nervously, no-one was there and everybody had left. I slowly made my way to the front of the bus, staggering across the aisle. As I stepped off, the door creaked then slammed behind me. The engine spluttered and the tyres screeched as the bus made its quick getaway leaving me helpless in the middle of nowhere.