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.
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.
It was my final moments as a Chelsea High School cheerleader. My final banquet had quickly approached. It was then that I realized I was not ready for the season to be over. I stood in front of my friends, fellow cheerleaders, and their families as they watched and waited for me to recite my last words as the season came to an end. It took hours for me to write about what my teammates and my coaches meant to me. I did not want to sound too nostalgic since I’m not the emotional type, but I also did not want to come across as indifferent. It was a difficult task but I knew I could accomplish it.
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.
...as nothing to do but swim, sight see, and watch TV. It was all worth it on the morning of the fourth day when I came down it to the lobby and saw our bus, triumphantly pulling into the parking lot with the morning sun gleaming off the shiny metal, driven by none other than, our youth pastor. Completely forgetting about breakfast I ran outside and waved to him as he pulled it around back to park. As soon as he came to a stop I ran up to the door, he opened it, and I climbed up in and with a satisfied sigh I inhaled deeply taking in the smell I had grown to miss over the last three days. It was at this moment that I realized something, instead of complaining to myself the morning we left, I should have been grateful that we had a bus at all. And with that thought I smiled, and turned around and me and my youth pastor walked inside to get some breakfast.
My eldest sister was a professional cheerleader. My second eldest sister rode horses and speaks fluent Spanish. My third sister played three instruments, crocheted, drew, and cooked. Even my younger brother was in the choir and played cello. I was in the middle. I felt like I had no skills. I can’t cheer, nor can I ride horses or speak another language fluently. My cooking is sub-par, and my skills as a violinist were… underdeveloped. I would always be seated in the back row of the second violins, the lowest of the low. All theses reasons contributed to why I didn’t join the color guard for three years, even after being constantly pressured and supported by the instructor. I would tell them that my knee hurt too much, or that it was too much money, however, the reality was I was too self conscious, too scared of failure to even try.
Since being a member of the color guard team for the last year, I’ve wanted to continue to help the team by making sure that we are working our hardest and loving the sport. I believe that loving the sport comes first. If you don’t love color guard the rewards won’t come. Hard work and dedication is what makes a team go from good to great. As a team, we need to strive to be great. This year we have come so far and I want to help us to continue to work hard and fly high.
I had got some sleep when Boom!!!. “What's wrong” I cry out hoping for an answer. It never comes. I run out to the hall with my belongings. “Hey lady” I hear from behind me.
When the clock struck three, everyone was ecstatic because school was out for fall break, but my team was thrilled only because we were loading the bus for Albany, Ga to begin the Region softball tournament. On the way, the atmosphere on the bus was electric. The ride to Albany is generally short, but that day it felt like hours. Once we finally arrived, we were the first team there. I was excited and confident my team was going to get the two wins of the day, however things didn’t go as planned. We thought when entering the tournament ranked number one, teams feared us, but into the second game, we were quickly proven wrong when we lost to crisp county 5-2. Many of us were heartbroken and devastated, but we decided to learn from it. Our senior, Emily Corbitt said, “Even the best lose
"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.
Since freshman year I've participated in color guard, which is hand in hand with marching band; more specifically my schools band program , The Highlander Band. Color guard was my way to find my group of friends throughout my highschool career; from kids at my school or other kids in different states or districts, i've forged many relationships through this sport. While it takes up a lot of time in and out of school, from practices before and after school, performing at contests and football games, and having week long summer rehearsals; I continue to show interest in returning every year due to the extravagant performances we do and the fun times i've shared.. I've dedicated countless hours to the Highlander band program and continue to do
Senior night, a night I’ve been dreaming about, was finally here and not how I wanted. There I was in jeans along side the other five seniors, but I didn't play only sat and watched.That was killer, knowing this was the last time I would play a sport I love on this gym floor, and I couldn't even play, wow. Next came Regionals, another last in my senior year, but again here I was sitting all because of this little monster inside me.
It was two days until the first game of my last high school football season. My team and I were going to play Bayfield, a battle we had persistently prepared for since the last game of our junior year. The sun was beating on my pads, radiating the heat to make practice seem even worse. I was exhausted and looking forward to the end of my last sweat poring practice for the week. Our team was repetitively executing plays to make sure they were like second nature to us on Friday.
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.
This old/new bus continued our route, and we all sat quietly, awaiting our stops. Everyone had a tired, almost forlorn look, as though they had been through much more than just switching buses. I did not have any concept of time as the bus chugged along, stopping occasionally to let people off, and all of a sudden I recognized that it was almost to my stop. I jerked out of the stupor I was in as the bus stopped in front of my apartment complex. As I gathered up my things to leave, I looked at my friends and said, "Well, this will make one interesting story at school tomorrow!"
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?