<p>Please help with decision about winter guard/color guard participation. My daughter is a freshman in highschool and has been in the color guard the last 2 months. She's done so well and can now go onto "varsity" winter guard. It's extremely time consuming though. She has been very active in many other things which have been put on hold the last two months. She's an exceptional student, taking honors & AP courses and has high aspirations for college.
Being on the Color Guard and Winter Guard will definitely preclude her from having leadership positions (and being very active) in other passions such as writing (she's on the Newspaper staff), Drama (she is a triple threat and has done it for years), Temple activities (she is active in youth group/choir/prayers, etc), debate, etc. She is great at all she does, but now realizes she can't do it all in high school.
We are concerned about her priority being in 'guard'...
Thank you for comments</p>
<p>just have her pick what she LIKES to do the most</p>
<p>Protip: She will have a stronger social life if she chooses something other than colorguard/winterguard.</p>
<p>I don't mean to be rude, or offend anyone, but it's pretty true, and most members of the group will tell you that they are ostracized from the general population. However, if she likes it, she should do it anyway. If she's only a freshman, she still has time to try everything out. If she is a leader, she'll lead no matter where she is. Don't tell her to do it for that reason.</p>
<p>Also, if she chooses something else other than colorguard, I promise she will thank you by the time she is a senior, and sees the social connotations of being a flag girl.</p>
<p>yeah have her join cheer or drill if she's looking for an EC to "lead" in. it sounds vain, but i know plenty of cheerleaders who ended up at ivies from my school. i think it kind of shows colleges the whole well-roundedness deal.</p>
<p>I'm Assistant Director of the Batavia Blue Devil Colorguard and Winterguard. I'm also a 1999 graduate of the program. We teach that school and academics come first, and our members are very active in other activities in school and the community. When I was in high school, I was active in just about everything that wasn't sports. Colorguard was my passion back then and still is 10 years later. I've done everything from being editor of the school newspaper to being a captain in Math Team and chorus. I feel I'm a stronger person because I was able to do everything I love and put 100% in it. I would tell your daughter to do what she loves. She'll be a better person and more well rounded individual for it.</p>
<p>Whatever ECs she loves most are the ECs she should stay with.</p>
<p>Typically as students become more deeply involved in ECs, they have to drop out of other activities. That's normal. </p>
<p>The relatively few colleges for which ECs are admissions factors are more interested in the depth of students' involvement in their ECs. The colleges aren't impressed by long lists of memberships.</p>
<p>One more mom here chiming in: Encourage her to participate in the ECs that she enjoys the most. If that ends up being one, and only one, huge time-sucking committment that she truly loves, so be it. If your daughter is in love with Color Guard/Winter Guard, I say let her go for it. She will figure out whether the trade-offs are worth it to her, and she will keep with the activity or she will drop it in favor of something else.</p>
<p>Happykid is mad about stage lighting which means that is stage lighting 24-7 at our house. But what she learns isn't just about the lighting. She is mastering negotiating skills by dealing with the byzantine politics of the high school stage crew, and she is developing into a conscientious co-worker/teacher/mentor as she faces the challenges of teaching underclassmen everything she knows about the lighting system (often mere days after she finally has mastered a skill). Being on the stage crew means that she was drafted into the TV production crew by her gang of techie friends. Now she is the Tuesday morning school announcement director - something that never in a million years would have crossed her mind as a possible school activity.</p>
<p>And, truly, there is something to be said for the simplification of your family schedule if your kid has one big committment instead of five or six small ones! I know where Happykid is. She's at the school auditorium, or she's at home sleeping. That's about it.</p>
<p>i absolutely love winterguard</p>
<p>i'm in the alter ego world guard right now on the weapon line (we won the IO Class in WGI last year so we're very competitive) </p>
<p>it winds up that the year we won I did the best in school. </p>
<p>don't listen to the person that said people that do guard are ostracized... that is such a stereotype, colorguard is a completely different thing than it was in the 80s. it's so artistic now.</p>
<p>she WILL have a very strong social life if she does guard...... </p>
<p>hope i helped....</p>
<p>YouTube - Alter Ego 2008</p>
<p>^--- definitely not flag girls..... that is actually really demeaning to someone that spends every weekend in the activity....</p>
<p>If she enjoys it definately let her join winter guard for a season!!
I am currently the captain of my own high school colorguard, and I fit most if not all of your daughters characteristics. I am on my 4th AP class, all my classes are honors, I was also captain of the girls tennis team, I also am the student director of our musical, I'm in our musical, I sing the at athletic events, I am extremely involved ion my church,...the list goes on and on. And if youre worried about her making friends, I'm positive it won't be an issue...granted colorguard does dominate most of your time, however she will still have days to go shopping and, just relax. Plus she'll learn how to manage her time!
But ultimatley let her make the decision, if she really wants to do it definately let her!</p>
<p>I agree with ham: Tell her to do what she loves. If she loves the activity, she'll do more than "show up" -- in the process, she'll become a leader (formal or informal) and develop those personal qualities the college admission committees hope to see.</p>
<p>I am a junior in high school and next year I will be a captain in color guard. I have NEVER been ostracized and I’m also in the school musical, and have a job. Your daughter will have to choose between some activities, yes, but being a “flag girl” ( which is incredibly offensive ) does not mean that people look down on you. Life is not like the movies, and the cheerleaders aren’t necessarily the cool kids. They certainly aren’t in my school. In fact, people look down on them. The point is, have her do what she wants and if she’s good at it, she can have leadership positions in guard. It’s a highly respectable SPORT, and it not only builds teamwork, but your guard becomes a second family.</p>
<p>I was a member of the Blackstone-Millville Regional High School winter guard from Massachusetts, if you have heard of my guard, we are currently four years undefeated and this winter, after my graduation, the guard will attempt for its five consecutive undefeated year. Yes, people criticized us, laughed at us, and didn’t realize the hard work and dedication it took to do winter guard but on the other hand, it taught us leadership, how to work together, perseverance, patience, and what it means to be a part of a team. The girls on my team are my sisters and I still look at them as that. They were forever be my friends. For what other artistic sport can you say that?</p>
<p>I am a senior and I have marched all 4 years. I ran into a situation like this myself when I was deciding if I wanted to do DCI (high level marching band) which required an immense amount of time to commit to. I would suggest for your daughter that she not do it. There are arguments for and against and neither is more right. The reason I say for her not to, is because personally I decided that I didnt want to do something YEAR ROUND and that I wanted to branch out and be very balanced (I decided to do varsity track instead, in the spring). It seems like your daughter is very talented and knows how to get into different programs. I would advise that being apart of something for a prolonged amount of time burns you out and you can sometimes lose interest in what your doing. But again, if she decides to do wintergaurd more power to her! Its a more competitive environment and there is a lot to it that she can gain. I’m glad she has good interests.</p>
<p>Jptoor, I am very offended by what you posted in response. Even though I am a male, and have no interest in guard, I know that there are many benefits of being apart of it. Tons of girls I know grow with other girls and its a beneficial environment for them. just because you don’t think it’s ‘cool’ doesn’t make the program trivial. Please don’t be one dimensional and state that it’d be better for her social life if she didn’t do something with a flag.</p>
<p>i would just like to say…im on colorguard and a sophmore in high school, i have been doing it for 3 years, but this is the first year competing. I lvoed it so much and just a let everyone that was bashing color guard…i have a lot of friends…everyone around me thinks color guard is so cool…they like it better than cheerleading no offence to the cheer leaders. But its so much fun and my coach is likea best freind and i have made sisters for life on that team. im currently part of the narragansett in ri we are like the only team from there and also everyone thats on color guard no matter what team your on you are supportive of the other team, everyone is freinds and its not like cheerleading (again no offece) where girls are catty and rude to eachother. The people are beyon nice and altar ego and dartmouth and especially blessed sacroment are fanominal teams and there are many more. i say let her do what she wants, but joing a color guard team willl NOT make her social life any less and you can get scholar ships for it too</p>
<p>Another vote for keeping what SHE likes best, no matter what anybody else says about the desirability of the activity. D1 was on color/winter guard for 3 years. Was captain her junior year. There are leadership opportunities. Never ostracized. Never discouraged from other activities. Practices were early bird. Sports, jobs, and music were after school and evening, but it does get to be too much. D1 really cut back on everything except music and diving senior year. </p>
<p>Just to add a little about being stereotyped because of an activity. D2 is a former optional level gymnast. Naturally, she made the cheer squad. No, not one of those competative deals, we don’t have them, but just the run of the mill, cheer at the basketball game squad. She gets so much crap for it. The other girls on the softball team give her a hard time. The other kids on the drumline may be the worst. One kid said to her, “Oh, we don’t like cheerleaders.” D2’s reply? “Well, you’re just going to have to get over that, aren’t you?” A kid with a good sense of self can stick with whatever SHE likes best, regardless of what anybody else says. If your kids likes the color/winter guard a lot, don’t worry one bit about her sticking with it.</p>