Another Boring Assembly Was In The Making As I Walked Into

On Monday May 16th, 5 girls from our very own Chino Hills High School color guard came into the Journalism room to be interviewed about their past season this school year. The five girls that came into our room were Kaitlyn Parsons, Mallory Williams, Ashley Kearns, Nina Penzo, and Hunter Adams. They placed first in the Western Open Class Champions and the Westcoast Winterguard Open Class Champions. They each told us that the World Championships take place in Dayton, Ohio which is considered to be the color guard hub of the United States of America. Hunter Adams told the journalism crew that they practiced about 16 hours a week with a competition on Saturdays. Nina Penzo is a captain as well as Jenna Quijano who is a senior captain. They

The flag waves majestically in the wind above me, or, that’s what I’ve been told it would be doing if the flagless practice pole in my hand was actually a color guard flag. Learning color guard is boring and, I couldn’t care less about marching slowly with the American flag. And, the dumb egoistic guy who demands we scream, “aye, P.O,” after everything he says, is not improving my mood. I want to be inside shooting an air rifle, but instead I’m loathing color guard. It is the millionth time I have gotten stuck with a task I didn’t want to do since I joined my Naval Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps (NJROTC) unit, and, quite frankly, I’m worn out.

I was done. I did it. I was all smiles as I walked back through the double doors. Several people mouthed to me, “Did you mess up? Did you do good? Did you do this? Did you do that?” All I could do was smile and nod my head yes. Later that night me and my friends ran up to the front doors of East to find out who made the team. Before I could even get out of the car I took a deep breath and hoped for the best. I slowly stepped out of the car and waited there for a moment. Two point five seconds later I was running like a cheetah towards the front door of the school. I looked crazily for my number on the sheet of paper. It was there. I couldn’t believe it. So many thoughts were going through my head. I literally couldn’t think right. Me and my friends started hugging each other. To my surprise all my friends made it, and I was so proud of them. I layed in bed that night thinking about how fortunate I was to be in such a good place. Good grades, good friends, and fun times. I couldn’t be any happier with my

Color Guard rehearsals were very exhausting, especially since they went from 5pm to 9pm on Tuesdays and Fridays after school. The worst part about it was having a very successful and hardworking instructional staff. This was actually a really

Only about half of the girls on the team had any kind of background relating dance or Color Guard before they joined the team. Each and every team member started with a blank canvas. They all had to pick up skills associated with Color Guard as they went. Many of the girls had to learn how to do flag tosses and spins at the Color Guard auditions.

When I was 11, I saw my sister walk across the stage in the Go-Hawk Gymnasium. I remembered the tassels she wore, and how only some of graduates had them on. At the time, I didn't know what they meant or how to achieve them, but I knew that was a goal I wanted to strive for. Looking back at my life as a Go-Hawk, my leadership, my volunteer work, and my success in the classroom has culminated to the opportunity to be apart of something that I only dreamed of growing up.

The first time I auditioned for the Elizabeth High School Color Guard, I would never have imagined it to play such a crucial role in my life. I have participated on this artistic and athletic manner for three years and it has been one of the preeminent decisions I have ever made in my life. For those who may not fully understand what color guard really is, it is a time intensive sport. Yes, a sport. Try jazz running across the football field for nine minutes while dancing and spinning a six-foot flag or a 36-inch rifle. Not only is your body physically pushed to the limits, but you need to have high levels of mental coordination. Nonetheless, color guard has shaped my character and without it, my life would not be half as phenomenal as it is today. Because of the laughs I had, the people I met, the confidence I gained, I am the person I am today.

It was a cloudy night in November, it was the 2016 Legacy High School football banquet. There was catered Chipotle so the whole team was eating tons of food. It was the season that the bus crash happened. 4 coaches were hospitalized, and many many players were hurt. It was a tough season to play. The awards were being announced. I wasn’t expecting an award considering some very talented Seniors were getting called ahead of me. I was currently a junior, and Juniors don't usually receive these type of awards. The award was all-conference. This is created from the football conference that certain high schools are apart of, and combine to make the best team in the conference. “Austin Mullins, Defensive End” I walked up and Coach Voorhees started

Students usually have a hobby or activity that defines them in a certain way. For me, it’s something not so common and you don’t see it everyday. Under the Friday night lights, you will see the colorguard on the green stadium field throwing flags, rifles, and sabres in the air. They dance in a sophisticated way to the beat of the music and catch their equipment with exquisite technique. On that field you will find me, alongside my team members, performing to my maximum and creating alluring art. Although our routines are mesmerizing, being in colorguard also comes with hard work, dedication and difficult tasks to overcome.

Despite the daunting challenge of being in charge of sixty teenage girls, one of the extremely humbling parts of being a Captain of the Eagle Pride Color Guard is the ability to show girls that regardless of their background they can reach their full potential. As I transitioned from my freshman year on Color Guard into my veteran years, I began to realize that I was among a group of girls that had experienced obstacles and had found ways to overcome them. During my second year on guard everything began to come into focus: I observed girls who were struggling with the experience of learning a new skill the way I had the year before. Every year from then on, when I began teaching a new concept to a rookie, such as tossing a flag, I reiterated

We are all here as brothers and sisters to ratify our uniform, which is the color of our skin, to bring about the revision of our nation into the land in which our forefathers intended.

Many people have a concept of what color guard is about. People who dance at football games spinning flags, sabers, and rifles alongside with the marching band. But for me, color guard is much more than just

I looked like a deer in the headlights during my 8 grade graduation, especially after they told me that I was no longer in the national honor society that same day. The worst thing was the reason why I was kicked out. I had finished all the requirements; completed more community service hour than I should have, but dropped one of my class grades down by one point .I was blindsided by the thought of hearing it .Nothing made since as, I was in national honor society for a long time and for it to be taken away was something I couldn’t wrap my head around. And there I was walking up the stair to the stage thinking about what I did wrong .Where was that one point in, between which test or essay was it in .As thoughts of failure were rushing through

They told me that I can even try next year and maybe get selected I told everyone that I am definitely not going to apply next year. This is the worst thing I have ever done I'm not going to do it again. The aggression and the disappointment that I was showing was because of the failure that I faced which was actually not a failure. I should have waited for the result to come.

Sophomore year of marching came. This year was a surprise for everyone. With our show being named ‘Masterminder.’ The band members marching were under control by the color guard soloist; the puppeteer. This show was pretty exciting, too. The judges also thought that. We made it past regionals AND semi-state. What? Yeah, we all thought the same thing. We had made it. We had FINALLY made it after so many years of just trying to get past regionals for once. It was a bitter-sweet feeling waiting for placement awards at Lucas Oil Stadium. The instructors went around to each band student one by one. The congratulated us on an amazing season. I started tearing up, but that isn’t surprising. As we marched our way out of Lucas Oil Stadium that night, I knew that this was only the beginning of a new generation for the Marching Marksmen.