Captain, Oh Captain Being on the Varsity Drill Team in high school as a freshman was more then I could have ever fathomed. From day 1, I saw the officers and the Captain and wanted nothing less than to be in their position by the time I became a senior. At that very young age, I had absolutely no idea about how much effort and persistence it took to become that figure, nonetheless how to even begin to start that journey. In the drill team world, the rank of Captain is the highest honor one could ever receive; which in my terms, meant it wasn’t going to be easy and there was going to be lots of blood, sweat and tears shed along the way. All I wanted was to be one of the girls announced at every football game and finally get the chance to be in the spotlight for once. Becoming the Captain of a high school Varsity Drill Team required an extensive amount of responsibility and dedication, along with helping mentor the girls through their rough walk in high school and an enormous love for dancing and leadership. The joy that dancing brought me did nothing but help push me to be that leader I had always aspired to be. In the world of high school drill team it is a must to be able to learn quickly and remember numerous dances at once. During football season I was obligated to know an officer’s strut, a field routine and a pep rally dance each week! And during competition season they have three officer’s dances along with four team dances they need to know and perfect. It gets rather overwhelming at certain times. A Captain’s dancing technique is required to be at a much higher level than the other girls on the team. If I was going to be in the spotlight it had to look good. In order to be able to correct the team on their dancing performances, I needed to keep in mind that it was to help them improve. It took me studying the past officers and only leaning from their mistakes. Also, my personal problems with some of the girls outside of drill team needed to be left at the door. It would not have benefitted either me, them, or the team if I were to have pointed them out every five minutes in practice. I was there to merely assist them to reach their personal goals. Although being the leader of a very decorated drill team is cool and all, there is an massive amount of responsibility that is expected from somebody of that rank. There are, on average, twenty five to thirty girls on a team; that’s quite a bit of people to be in charge of at that age. Not to mention, there is a different practice uniform for each day and then other sets of uniforms for performances. It was mandatory for me to make sure they were squared away along with having to take care of myself. How could I expect my girls to come in on time, with the right wear and accessories if I couldn’t even achieve that simple task on my part? I had to treat the previous three years leading up to my reign as training for the major leagues. It was full of disappoints, laughs, hard times and joyous occasions that allowed me to be the outstanding leader I became. Leadership has to be earned; it’s not just handed over on a silver platter. Every once in a while there were times where it was better for me to sympathize then to be the big bad wolf breathing down their neck constantly. I had the opportunity to be someone that others looked up to. I wasn’t going to show them that irresponsibility was a part of it. The other aspect of being a leader that is greatly forgotten sometimes is not only would I have to lead the team in dancing, but I would also be mentoring the girls through the struggles of the time as a teenager in high school. A lot of the time they just need