If there's any one single world that stands out to me about my college experience so far it would be pride. In June of the summer before I started my first semester of college, I had my first rehearsal with the YSU Marching Pride. At the time, I was in a place that was rather foreign to me, and I really did not know a single person, therefore those first few rehearsals are mostly a blur of confusion and unfamiliar faces. However, regardless of how fuzzy my memory of those first few rehearsals may be, I clearly remember the emphasis that was put on presenting ourselves with pride. Pride is in our name, so consequently everything we do has to be done in pride. I remember being taught the basics of how to stand "with pride", and hearing about how important it is that we have pride in ourselves and in our university.

During this time, I was still rather apprehensive about whether or not I made the right decision in my college search endeavors. I knew that wherever I went, I would be able to find happiness and I was excited, but for whatever reason, I still questioned my decision. Everything was so new, and just as many college freshmen do, I felt very small and overwhelmed. After that first rehearsal, however, much of my apprehension was replaced with genuine excitement. Don't get me wrong, I was still quite nervous, but seeing people who were so proud of their school and the thought that I would now get to represent something so much larger than anything I had experienced yet in my life was a really exciting thing.

From there came band camp which led to many football and basketball games, all where the pride I had for my school continued to grow. Throughout my season with the Marching Pride, we experienced some conditions that were less than ideal such as weather where the temperatures ranged anywhere from being not much warmer than the single digits to well over ninety degrees. We experienced some stressful moments, both mental and physical exhaustion, and a rather consuming time commitment. However, when looking past all the rough patches, I see that I was surrounded by great people who would eventually become some of my closest friends, all the while being a member of something that is much bigger than myself and representing my university in one of the best ways that I know how.