During my four years of high school and during my freshman year at the University of Alabama I had the privilege to be apart of both color guard teams. During those five years, these are some of the things that are total signs to me that someone is or has been a part of a color guard team. Here is a mix of signs that one is or was a member of a color guard team along with some of the experiences through your journey within it and the life of the marching band.
1. When you tell someone you are in band and they ask you what instrument you play and you have to constantly explain that you are a member of the color guard team within the marching band.
2. You constantly get told that what you do is not a 'real sport.'
3. You have a strange connection to any marching band that you see.
4. You find yourself following small commands like 'set.'
5. When you go back to your old high school you get dragged into helping out your old band!
6. People would call you a wannabe cheerleader.Â
7. You have great time management skills due to fitting it practices, competitions, school work and personal life time!
8. You have learned to do your makeup really fast but make it look good!
9. When listening to music you can't help but step to the beat of the song that's playing.Â
10. Taking long trips on a school bus does not bother you.
11. You have learned how to change efficiently in a bus of crowded people.
12. You constantly looked like you were getting abused due to the constant bruises and scrapes covering your body due to saber and rifles.
13. When you see your old team you are constantly looking for any mistakes made.
14. Anytime you hear music that you have performed to you immediately start going through the routine.
15. You judge others based on what section of band they there are in.
16. You own numerous pairs of tights, jazz shoes, fake lashes and socks with holes in them!Â
17. You have a section of your closet back home dedicated to your old show costumes and marching band merchandise.Â
18. The only reason you watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade is to see the bands in it.
19. Smiling for a long time no longer hurts!Â
20. Standing for a long time doesn't bother you either!Â
21. At Mardi Gras you are more excited about cheering on the marching bands than screaming at the floats to get beads tossed to you because you have been in those kids shoes and know how long and tiring a parade route can be.
22. Getting a captain position was a BIG deal!
23. Even though you are a die-hard football fan, the halftime shows are always your favorite part of game day!
24. You have tons of rolls of electrical tape that you have no use for now.
25. You can not stand when people do not clap on beat!
26. It is easy for you to 'dumb' things down when necessary from teaching past freshman when you were an upperclassman.Â
27. You have wonderful team player skills!
28. You know how to properly fold a tarp due to the countless folds of winter guard floors.Â
29. Tan lines no longer bother you!
30. You are used to chiped fingernail polish, broken nails and having calluses on your feet!
31. When you hear a song on the radio you start to immediately think about whether or not it would be a good stand tune, winter guard show or marching band show.
32. You are used to being underappreciated!
33. You are used to people not knowing what color guard is and having to always explain it to them.
34. The saying, "this one time at band camp," gets really old and makes telling some truly good stories hard because they actually did occur at band camp!
35. You can still hear the click of the metronome in your head sometimes!Â
36. You are not afraid to rock red lipstick anymore from the countless years of having to wear it!
37. Your hair is used to damage from having tons of hairspray in it, being curled or straightened a lot and having to be teased!
38. Knee braces were your best friend!
39. You catch yourself walking in time with strangers beside you.
40. You know that the show must go on no matter what even if that means you have tears streaming down your face by the end of the show or costume malfunctions!
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