I feel the beat of the snare resounding through my body as we march to the field. I’m nervous, but I try to keep a smile on my face in order to keep up with my performance. It’s my first year, my first competition, and I can feel the jitters coursing through me as I keep in step with the drum. As we reach the endzone, we are given a command to turn around so we do not see the band that is currently on the field. As the last few notes echo throughout the stadium the crowd erupts into applause and the drum major calls their band to attention and leads them off the field. Our instructors give us the command to turn around “ FOUR COUNT TURN TO THE RIGHT, READY, MOVE”. We move forward onto the field  as two more commands are called one for marking time and another for moving forward. We move in our block until we reach the thirty yard line where we stop and mark time until we are allowed to continue. When we move to the forty yard line, we break from our block. The Colorguard runs to set our flags while the band rushes to get in formation. When everything is set, we stand at parade rest until we are called to attention. As our drum major counts us in, I take a deep breath and think to myself- it’s time.
          

Many people are afraid to step out of their comfort zone but once they do i’m sure they would say something to the effect of “I’m glad that I did this, it was so much fun!”. A lot of people are frightened of change as they’ve fallen into a comfortable routine and don’t want anything to mess it up. Humans tend to be creatures of habit and seek out solace, but what we don’t realize is that in doing so we leave no room for growth to occur. When we leave our comfort zones we open ourselves up to new opportunities and can achieve goals once thought impossible. I was in my comfort zone for quite a long time, not going out or doing anything productive with myself, but when I expanded my horizons and joined marching band I was ecstatic that I did. I made many new friends and found that I loved the exhilarating feeling that accompanied me on the field during competitions. I admit it was hard at first but being in colorguard has helped me become a better person and has helped me turn from the shy, quiet girl that you would only be able to find somewhere  in the background to the girl that you could find anywhere, with anyone. The girl that wasn’t afraid to speak her mind no matter if others opposed it or not. I’ve achieved and done so many things that I never believed I could do before and I owe it all to trying new things, taking risks is what helped me to grow as a person.
         

If you take anything away from my experience, I hope that it is this- you need to take a step out of your comfort zone if you don’t then you’re just allowing your growth as an individual to be stunted infinitesimally.