Relatable Color Guard/Band things. (Mostly Colorguard)

My first colorguard try outs.

I'm going to start from the beginning on how it happened to me.

At the time I was an 8th grader, I was walking down the hall in my old middle school and I saw a poster that said ColorGuard try outs. It had the time and where to go.

I got interested immediately because my older sister had done it her senior year and loved it, so I decided to show up to try-outs.

I went to my now highschool that I had only been into a number of times since like I said I was an 8th grader at the time. I remember when I first got to the highschool I started to shake from how scared I was, I didn't know what to expect and I also didn't know where the band room was so I went to the office. I talked to the front desk lady that I've come to dislike and she had no idea about it so she intercomed the band room and sent someone up for me, keep in mind I didn't know any of these people so I was nervous when I realized I would have to talk to someone. When I saw the girl who came into the office to come get me I didn't know it was going to be my guard co guard instructor and I didn't know I was going to come to love and hate her. She told me to follow her and she took me to the band room.

On the way there she talked to me and made me feel very welcome, she was funny and I started to feel alittle better. We made it into the band room and I remember this like it was yesterday, I looked at band room and thought it was really cool looking.

Then I noticed all the people standing infront of me and got scared all over again, there were sophmores, juniors, seniors, I still remember seeing them for the first time and I wouldn't have ever guessed that they would ever become like sisters to me.

This is off topic but I actually found out from my captain this past year  that when she was in the guard room at the time some of the other guard people came running in saying that I was really pretty whenever they first saw me. That just really gave me a confidence boost and I wanted to share it, not that you needed to know.

Anyway back to the story they were also really nice and welcoming I remember one of the first things some of them said was that our guard was a 'cult' it made me happy hearing that for some reason even though that's a bit weird.

That little bit of happiness came to an end when I met my guard instructor who actually stopped working or us this past year, she was really great but she had children and had to stop working for us. Anyway she came in and I got scared all over again, it was different meeting her compared to the co instructor who came into the office to get me. The co instructor is only like 4 years older then me so I didn't get all that scared seeing her.

Now the guard instructor she was older I'd say late 30's and really pretty, very fierce looking and she pretty much radiated dominance it was crazy. She told the guard to grab flags and head up to the gym and I still remember to this day when I made it to the gym and how the flag felt being in my hands and thinking 'what am I supposed to do with this it' it felt so forein to touch. Then I remember looking up and seeing veterans at the time doing tosses, doing choreo from the show the year before and then thinking 'the fuck did I get myself into?'

And then!!! And then, and then it started. The guard instructor told us what we were going to be doing and I found out that we would be learning a little routine on flag and a dance routine, for the flag stuff I was worried but for the dance stuff I was kinda is terrified because I had no dance experience, I didn't do cheerleading or anything like that, soooo I thought I was screwed.

The instructor started teaching flag work and then I was freaking mortified, I kept thinking what the hell are they doing with their freaking hands? It was pleasant.

The co instructor tried helping me and I somewhat got it, I still felt like a lost cause though. Then they moved onto the dancing and I did pretty bad with that but that was also expected and soon after practicing that I went home.

The guard try-outs is a 4 day thing at my school so the next day I came in and it went on the same but at the end me and my friend who I got to try out with me decided to stay later with the guard captain who had offered to help anyone who was willing to stay after.

She definetly helped me out and I am forever thankful because if I hadn't stayed with her I don't think I would have made it in. I left the highschool that day feeling kind of confident.

3rd day was pretty chill I still had trouble with things but I was definetly getting better, my instructor had tried teaching us tosses that day and I think I learned pretty fast considering it was a double pop toss. I definetly didn't have it all the way but I was doing pretty well.

The 4th day was the day. The day I would be standing up infront of my band director, co band director, my guard instuctor and my co guard instructor with only 2 other people with me. I remember being lightheaded before.

For the audition we had to dress in all black and put alittle bit of make up on. I went in and waited for my turn to be called to go in with the 2 other girls. I got scared, like scared, scared because I had realized I'd actually come to enjoy this and I didn't want to loose it. Those past 3 days I realized that guard actually made me genuily happy even though it was very hard.

I heard my name called and I went into the gym and I felt like I was going to fall down when I saw all the people who would be judging me, they were behind this table looking all comfy in their chairs at ease and then there was me about to fall down or passout.

I got the courage to pick up the flag that was infront of them and waited for the music to play which happened to be thriller. It started and I actually did good and when the toss came I threw it up, I didn't catch it right of course but I caught it and when I looked at the guard instructor she smiled shaking her head up and down with a thumbs up. I felt so happy in that moment.

Then the dance came and of course I messed up but thankfully I corrected myself super quckly and got back in. After the audition I went home, I wouldn't find out if I made it for another week. So I went back to middle school and I couldn't help but notice that something was missing, I didn't have that excitment and nervousness I got when thinking about colorguard and it got umexplainably boring without it.

Then... one morning I went into my chorus class and I saw a gift basket on my teachers piano, I didn't really think anything of it I didn't really pay it a second glance. The teacher called me up to her piano and she said this is for you. I looked at the red basket, found a red balloon and candy and a paper that said

Allison Carpenter!!!

C O N G R A D U L A T I O N S
Welcome to NCHS color guard.

I fell to the ground...

I was in euphoria! Despit my name being spelled wrong. (Alisun) That day marked the start of something that I would come to love and remember forever.