Sophomore slump

they put five names up on the band bulletin board. It felt like my heart stopped beating when I looked at the list; my eyes quickly scanned it. In all caps was (AMBER GREANEY). My name was up there! I was so thankful the directors were giving my sophomore self a shot at leadership; an underclassmen being a drum major was unheard of. I’ve spent the past two years giving the Avon Marching Band my heart and soul. It’s taught me so many lessons I can use in my everyday life. How to be punctual,…

it, so instead of giving up i tried out for the dance team, and i made the dance team. It was a great experience. It made me feel comfortable with the school more, we had a great sister bond on the team . I finished my freshman year strong. My sophomore year, was the hardest out of all the four years i was there. The beginning of my…

see either of our names on the varsity roster. Our names were on the junior varsity roster. I was devastated and upset. I thought to myself, This sucks. Who wants to make junior varsity as a junior? Everyone knows that it’s normally freshman and sophomores on junior varsity and juniors and seniors on varsity. I felt embarrassed that I made junior varsity as a junior, but I didn’t quit. I thought about quitting but I stayed, because I love soccer and I really liked the junior varsity coach. A…

at the time board with hope. Hope was all I had at that moment. I could not believe my eyes when I saw the time on the board. I missed my letter time by less than a second. I failed to accomplish my main goal that season. I had to move on. Sophomore year came with the same goals in mind…

To understand me you must understand my passion for volleyball. The last eight years of my life have been filled with training in what I would consider to be the best sport. I played at the varsity level all four years for my high school career and the school off-season was filled with club volleyball. My passion for this sport has left me with many bruises, a few concussions and hundreds of great memories! I love the rush of a win and I cry with each defeat but as in life, every loss is a…

I live on a (area of Unalska) “piece of rock” in the heart of the Aleutian chain in the waters of Alaska. The “piece of rock” that I call home is Unalaska and I’ve lived here for 10 years. I started elementary school in Alaska, then moved attended school in Puyallup, Washington from the 2nd through the 5th grade. Six years ago, I would have never imagined that I would be the type of person that I am today. When I moved back to Unalaska in the 5th grade, I wasn’t very outspoken. As a matter of…

example, to be a part of a successful athletic team, there needs to be some sort of communication, whether it be coaches or players. One example of how words and communication can be influential is an experience of mine that I will never forget. My sophomore year of high school, I was pulled up from the junior varsity team to varsity to help the team throughout the playoffs. During this time, the football team was doing well. They had not yet failed to win a game, and usually did so with ease.…

Besides teaching, I started a cross country program at the school. Unfortunately, because of the low number of boys in the school and their overall lack of interest in competing, I was only able to initially begin a girls team. Leading the team was the daughter of the man who had originally informed me about the opening at the school. But, pleasantly what I soon found out was there was a virtual all-star team of girl runners at that school in grades six, seven, and eight which translated into…

My defining moment happened my junior year at the end of my wrestling season. The moment was not what I had in mind, but it was the best thing that happened to me. Starting in 4th grade all I wanted was to make it to the state tournament for wrestling. My freshmen year came along and I started training all year long for wrestling, it was the only thing on my mind. My junior year came along and I was ready: this was my year. The district tournament was upon us. It was a Saturday, I was up…

“Marching band was the best time of my life,” Stephanie said at the beginning of the interview. She took me back to her favorite year of marching band—sophomore in high school. Their show’s theme was “Pyramids of Giza”. She ran me through their schedule on competition days. The day of the competition, they would meet at the school around sunrise. After attendance, they would load all their supplies: uniforms, instruments, background props. The band got on the school bus when everything…