When I was in elementary school, the high school marching band would always have a special stand-still performance for the elementary students. The goal was, of course, when the elementary students reached high school they would have an interest in joining the marching band.

I was always fascinated by the color guard during these performances. The pretty silks spinning and weapons flying drew my eyes away from the band. I knew when I got the opportunity I would join the color guard.

At my first high school, I had joined the color guard very unsure of my ability and place within the guard. I worked hard to improve (even if it was frustrating and slow). When I moved, I wasn't sure whether or not I was going to continue with color guard at my new school, but I knew that it would probably be a good idea to help adjust to a new place with something I was familiar. I joined my new school's winter color guard (something that my first high school didn't have). In the end, it had been one of the best decisions I had made in my high school career. If anything, it gave me something to do and connected me to new friends.

I hadn't initially intended on joining color guard when I went to college. In fact, throughout my sophomore and junior years of high school, I was very sure that I wouldn't. As much as I had enjoyed color guard in high school, I knew that I didn't do too well in the heat, and I definitely didn't think I was good enough to participate in the activity in college. However, by my senior year, I was so in love with the activity that I couldn't imagine not participating regardless of skill level. It became my top requirement while looking at colleges. I just wanted to be able to continue to do color guard wherever I ended up.

Color guard in college is definitely different from what it had been in high school. At my high school, we stuck mostly to the basics and simple tricks. We ended up dedicating a lot of time to drop-spins, pole-hits and easy tosses at the beginning of every season every year which could be really frustrating for the people who returned. When I got to college, however, there wasn't this dedication time to the basics. While we still worked on them, it wasn't nearly in such a gruelingly repetitive nature.

I was challenged to do things that I hadn't done before, challenged to leave my comfort zone of what I knew I was capable of doing to try something new. The familiarity of the activity is what really gives me an outlet in a new environment with new people to meet these challenges head-on.

From the time I moved high schools to the time I left home, color guard has been a very stable factor in my life. It is something I hope continues to be so through the years.