My Colorguard Story

When I tell people that I am a part of BYU’s Colorguard, I get quite a few questions. Examples: What’s Colorguard? (:/) Do you get to meet any football players? (not really) Or a guard girl’s worst nightmare: So you are the people who twirl the flags, right? (AHHHHHHH! It’s SPINNING, not twirling you fool!)

But another question I get asked frequently is how I got started with this whole spinning flags thing. And that’s the story I’d like to share with you today.

Honestly, if someone had told me when I was 14 (even when I had just turned 16) that I would be in marching band my senior year of high school and through college, well, I wouldn’t have busted out laughing. Marching band? I was an orch dork—I ate band kids for lunch. I could—no I would—never become a band girl.

But that was before fall semester of my junior year of high school. I hit one of the hardest times in my life, and this time it was internal. I was depressed. Life was terrible. Church was miserable. I felt dead, even in my favorite city in the world: London. I didn’t want to do anything anymore. I wanted to give up.

But one day, as I was heading towards my math class, something caught my eye and I stopped. It was a poster announcing auditions for Mountain View’s winterguard. On the poster, in grainy black and white, was a picture of some girls dancing with flags. My first thought was, “What’s winterguard?” followed by a more surprising, “I want to try out for that.” So I ripped the poster down and brought it with me to class.

For some reason, I just had to learn more about this winterguard thing. I knew that it was somehow connected to colorguard—although I had only seen one guard performance that I knew of. And I knew that colorguard was a part of the marching band. So I began to think of all the people I knew in band. Luckily, there was a marching band member in my ward, so on Sunday, I asked her about winterguard. And to my surprise and delight, not only did she know what winterguard was, she was trying out herself! I didn’t have to audition alone! So together we practiced for the audition. My friend taught me how to spin rifle and I was ready to go.

I was so nervous at auditions. I really didn’t know anyone there except my ward friend. I recognized a few people from orchestra, but most were strangers. To help with that, all of the newbies got matched up to a returning member who helped us learn how to do drop spins. My partner, Diane Harrison, was super adorable and very helpful. Then, over the next 2 days, we learned the dance and flag choreography. Finally, the official audition came. I was so nervous. I wanted this more than I had wanted anything for a while. It was my turn, and with a little prayer beforehand, I performed. I felt great.

Then the waiting began. I remember sitting in my bed reading scriptures. In seminary, we had just been encouraged to use the scriptures to find answers to our questions. Trying this out for myself, I closed my quad and asked if doing winterguard was the right thing. Using the Spirit, I then opened my book to Genesis 24:40:

40 And he said unto me, The Lord, before whom I walk, will send his angel with thee, and prosper thy way; and thou shalt take a wife for my son of my kindred, and of my father’s house: 

  And with that word, “prosper”, I knew that this was the right path for me.

So the next day, when I went to check on the results, I saw my name and the rest… is history. 

Fashion Friday: Olympics

Will this stay as Fashion Friday? Not sure. 

But I'm SOOOOOOO excited!! Why, you ask? Well, let's just say that the Olympics are starting today!!

To me, the Olympics are almost like a religious experience, especially the Opening Ceremony. Every summer, I would watch the recording of the 2002 Winter Olympics Opening Ceremony in Salt Lake City in my grandma's basement. Nerdy, right? Yeah, I'm a little obsessed with the Olympics.

So to celebrate, I created some cute Olympics and London themed outfits that will be presented throughout the Olympics.

The first is a homage to London's most recognizable symbols: the telephone booths and the double decker buses. 

Next, is my interpretation of the goal of every Olympian, to win a gold medal. Oh, so sparkly!

Hope you enjoy these and have a good time watching the Opening Ceremonies! I know I will!

Who Says Guard Can't Be Spunky?

Guys! I'm doing guard again!!!

WHAAAAAAAT!!!

And this time, BYU colorguard will definitely be like never before. We have POM POMS!!

At last, the inner cheerleader in me can come out of the closet. Give me a C-O-U-G-A-R-S! What does that spell? COUGARS!!! See, wouldn't I be such a cute little cheerleader. Well, some can dream, or join 2012's BYU colorguard.

So this business with the pom pom thing is great and all, but none of use guardies are or were cheerleaders, which means we have to figure out what the heck we are doing. Thus, the mission of our first clinic Thursday night.

Unfortunately, but not unexpectedly, there were not a lot of people at the clinic. So, my captain called one of her buddies to come help us choreograph pom pom routines. And thus, I met Liz, a UVU student, ex-drummer, Utah girl with a whole lot of spunk. How much spunk? Well, check out this video of our pom pom routine for the BYU fight song. Hint: Liz is the girl in plaid in the back. Enjoy!

PS you can only access the video through this secret link.
PSS you can ignore me, I look really bored most of the video, it's the plaid girl you're watching. Remember that!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qSZ7gPiM7UQ 

One More Round!

I thought I was done. Just like I thought I was finished after freshman year. I was going to be in my major. I was going to be too busy. I just couldn’t do a third year of BYU colorguard.

Oh so I thought. It’s funny how God works in mysterious ways. After freshman year, I was sick of guard—it was hard, time-consuming, and not really beneficial (I believed). Then, the day before auditions, I had a revelation that I needed to do another year. Grudgingly, I obeyed. My second season of colorguard was awesome. Sure, band camp was during a heat wave and we didn’t get to go to the bowl game, but I went to parties, had sleepovers, spontaneously went to Vegas, and tried to get a granola bar into my mouth without using my hands. When the season abruptly cut short due to the fact the colorguard wasn’t going to the bowl game, I was shocked. I was taking the management core in the fall and I knew I couldn’t balance the workload of the core with colorguard. So thus, it was my last season, even though I didn’t want it to be.

But God has an interesting way of changing plans. This summer I’ve had what I like to call my “quarter-life crisis”. I questioned all my plans for my future, my major, my career, where I was going to live. I didn’t know what to do. And as much as I prayed, I wasn’t getting any answers. Which stressed me out (I was a stress ball for most of spring term).  Finally, I found some solace. I applied to the International Language Program to go teach English in the fall. I had a plan. My life had a semblance of order. But I wasn’t convinced about China. I felt that it might be an escape from my decisions about school and where to live in the fall and the dating/marriage atmosphere at BYU(cause I’m pretty tired of it). Even after I had been accepted, I couldn’t make myself say that I was going to China. That same week, there was a colorguard clinic. I went because I love to spin and see my guard sisters. I knew that the people at the clinic would do their best to convince me to rejoin guard. I just didn’t expect how good they would be. Or maybe my subconscious already knew I needed to do guard again because the arguments were so convincing. There were new uniforms, new equipment, dancing in front of the band…how could I not do guard again? So last Saturday, I auditioned to be on the 2012 BYU Colorguard.

So here I am—still a BYU guard girl. And thus this blog has been resurrected to document my third exciting season.

RA RA RARARA RA RA RARARA RA RA RARARA GOOOOOOOOOOO COUGARS!

Back to School, Back to Band Camp

Hola from P-town everyone!!

After taking quite the break from writing... well anything, I am back with a vengeance. That's probably because I have 3 papers due next week (but that's a minor detail). Since I'm writing so much, I thought I should renew my commitment to this blog and to its purpose: describing the life of a BYU guard girl. And what better way to do that than recap the most infamous week in any colorguard season: Band Camp.

This was BYU Band Camp 2.0. I was stronger, I was wiser, I was going to learn from my rookie mistakes from last year. And I think I did, but I'm getting ahead of myself. So the colorguard starts Band Camp a day earlier than the rest of the band. Thus, on Saturday, August 20th, I reluctantly parted with my fluffy hotel bed (since I was homeless) and headed over to the Lavell Edwards Stadium. It was great to reconnect with old buddies from last year such as my fellow sophomores Rachel and Meghan and also fun to meet the new girls to the guard. Together, the 2011 BYU colorguard learned proper technique for basics and learned choreography for our first show. Then, in colorguard tradition, we hiked the Y. Last year, the Y hike was brutal, I was hot, I was tired, and those switchbacks were malicious. But this year was totally different. For starters, it was much cooler since a storm had just barely passed it hours before. Second, I think I was just in better shape (thank you Zumba!). And third, we had entertainment. At every switchback, a girl would have to tell a "boy story". What was my "boy story" you ask? The funny and kind of gross story of my first kiss. Ask me about it sometime. At the Y, Ashlee, our coach, introduced the colorguard theme for this year: Charity. What a great theme! I am really excited.

After such a hike, we were rewarded with one day off, which was WAY too short. Monday arrived quickly and Band Camp officially began. We started in the band hall, where our director, Brother Mac, gave us a pep talk. Then we headed to the parking lot to learn marching basics. The afternoon was spent learning more choreography. And thus began the rhythm of Band Camp: learning choreography, learning drill, repeat. But there were a few highlights.

First, the heat. After having a frigid year, Utah decided to heat up for band camp. In the afternoon, we were practicing in hundred degree or above weather. It was brutal. But I was prepared. Last year, Band Camp turned me into some kind of lobster, I was determined to never let that happen again. So I showed up to Band camp loaded with three kinds of sunscreen: one for my body, one for my face, and one for my lips. And don't forget about water. I brought a large cooler and filled it with ice and water and Gatorade and fruit. It was a life saver during band camp, the envy of all the other guardlings.

Second, the band social. Once again, the band was split into birth months and of course, June won the first round, meaning we got to partake of the delicious Brick Oven pasta first. We feasted like kings and then began to mingle. Rachel and I participated in giant Twister, which was way fun. We totally dominated. Colorguard always dominates. Then, Rachel taught me and a few drummers how to play Swedish Twister, which is just as fun, maybe even better, than giant Twister. After flirting with band boys, I left to go spend my night off with my pal Brad.

Third, BOND-A-THON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
A ritual so amazing and so spectacular that I cannot even mention it in such an unworthy medium. All I will say is that moving food down your face without your hands is quite difficult. And I have mad drummer skills. Ha!

So after a week of laughter, sore muscles, fatigue and "boy stories", Band Camp 2011 came to an end. I survived the week with only getting a sunburn on my hairline and my neck (a major improvement from last year). I better understand proper technique. But best of all, I made wonderful friends whom I am excited to share this upcoming season with.

Day 3- Jet Lag

This is the hit song right now in France and it about something near and dear to my heart. Jet lag. This happens to take place at Charles De Gaulle Airport in Paris where I arrived a few days ago. Enjoy!!

Day 3- KABOOM!!

One of the best things about staying with a frenchie in France is that you get to see how normal, everyday French people live. It's an immersion into their culture. I like to think of it as "authentic" traveling. Not that I have anything against tourist destinations and big cities. I definitely can't say I didn't love London or Cancun, but when you are in those places, you have sort of a cushion. A "cloud nine" phenonmenon.

Anywho, because I was staying with Coralie, she took me to the French countryside to see her grandmother, who lives in a village outside of Bourg-en-Bresse in the province of Rhone-Alpes. Here I could directly examine and experience the simplistic, quiet way of French country life?

Haha. Think again.

After eating a spectacular french lunch with Coralie's mami and cousins, I settled down in my room to take a quick nap to help with my jet lag. I am almost asleep when, all of a sudden, a siren goes off, a siren that sounds a lot like a tornado warning. Out of all the nasty natural disasters there are in this world, a tornado scares me the most. So I just laid and quietly hoped that I wasn't about to face one of my biggest fears in a foreign country without my mommy. But Coralie calmed my fears by coming in and telling me that the siren was a signal to the volunteer firemen that there was a fire. In the countryside, they do not have an institutionalized firehouse with professional firemen and such. They depend on volunteers to help fight any fires. When I was told that it was only a fire, I relaxed. I knew about fires. I live in Arizona, I see fires all the time. No biggie. So I curled back up and drifted off to sleep. But less than 5 minutes later...

KABOOM!!

I sat up and watched as Coralie and her cousins charged pass my window going to see what happened. But I already knew, something exploded. Eventually, Coralie bursted into my room and said, "You have to see this" so I followed her to the front yard where immediately I saw black smoke billowing into the sky. We ran back into the house to get to the backyard, where we saw that the smoke was coming from the neighbors shed. All of the cousins and me were all excited, everyone was asking me if I was scared and now thought that France was a dangerous place (the answer: definitely not). Neighbors and other family members gathered around to watch the spectacle. Eventually the firefighters arrived and quenched the fire with long hoses spewing out water.

So much for peace and quiet, but it will be an experience I will remember for years to come.