Day 1 ~ Name, Instrument, Background

Name - Erica "Kitten"

Instrument - Rifle

Name of Instrument - Pookie

Background - My sister was honestly the one who sought out Colorguard. I remember her practicing with a flag back when they actually had auditions, and just thought it was sort of cool. I used to be a bandie (flute all through middle school), but I didn't have enough room to take band as a school course. I figured I could take Marching Band (extra-curricular) and march flute, but I was never particularly good at it, and wanted to try my hand at something new.

Colorguard has been an amazing experience. We've done two seasons of field, and the 2010 season was our first in parade. I started out on flag, everyone spun rifle a bit my second year, and now I've transitioned onto the rifle line! It's tough, and I don't agree with my district's ruling that it shouldn't count for PE credits (it's more intense than PE!). As for the name of my rifle, it's been a tradition to name your rifle or sabre (not flag though, don't ask me why). I guess I just started calling mine Pookie for no good reason, but hey, it has a name now! We also have a little tradition of ending up giving people nicknames. It's not everyone, mainly just a few people whose nicknames come naturally. We have an Ellen "Ninja" and a "Chicken Little" Ellen. One of my fellow guardies calls me Kitten every so often, so I guess that can sub in as my guardie name.

So I'm totally psyched for marching season next (or this, technically) year. I'm pretty sure we're still doing parade - oh no, no costume change! - which is pretty nice, because that means I'll have done two seasons of field, and likewise for parade. I'm also very tempted to buy a rifle myself once I graduate, if only to spin a bit for fun in college.