At the start of the summer each section leader gets a list of people interested in joining their section of the band. That list is usually between seven or eight people but rarely will everyone show up. At the end of our last season we said goodbye to only one senior, leaving us with a color guard of fourteen. During my summer I received a list that said fifteen girls were interested in joining our color guard. Much to my surprise on the first day our color guard grew from fourteen to twenty-six. We lost two of our veterans to school work but gained all fifteen bright and shinning freshman eager to begin their college band careers. To say that I wasn't terrified would be lying. How was I going to be able to keep the largest section in the band under control, moving together as one, all within five days. Needless to say we got through it, but the road wasn't easy. The transformation I have watched these girls go through is astounding.
They have learned to control their tosses and to march in (almost) a straight line. You cannot pick out who has never done it before, and who has been spinning since they were fourteen. Rachel (the one in the back row with the red lips) has come the farthest. She spent half of the season incapacitated from illness and she still caught on. She learned three routines in a week, marched two different shows, and was able to participate in our annual concert. Did I mention she has never touched a flag? Then there are people like Katelyn (second row from the bottom, fourth in from the left) and Jess (third row, last one on the right) who are sophomores but stepped up their teaching styles so that the new girls would have more veterans to follow. I am so proud of each and every one of them because we are leaps and bounds farther than we were three months ago. It is a brand new guard.
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