Auditioning for Drill Team I fell onto the couch after a hard practice. Never had I been so sore in my life. Still in my sweat covered clothes, I wriggled under a blanket. "You can quit if you want," my mom said as she came into the living room, but there was no way that was happening. I was currently enduring a week long process of trying out for the local high school drill team. Once this week was over, my life would be changed. I will never forget those practices leading up to my anxiety filled audition. Being in the eighth grade at the time, that week leading up to my audition was one of the scariest times of my life. There was choreography to learn, technique to perfect, and enormous smiles to be shown. All of this had to be done along with completing any homework I may have had and getting a decent amount of rest. To prepare, I looked to a senior drill team member for guidance, Jasmine. "Don't you worry, we're going to do whatever it takes to get you onto this team," she said to me. I hadn't known Jasmine for long, but she decided to take me under her wing. I was constantly thanking Jasmine to try and show my appreciation for her help, "thank you, thank you, thank you," I would say with relief. "Really, it's no problem at all," she would tell me, always being so kind. Together we worked that entire week to perfect our routines, making sure each step was up to par. All I needed was to put on some lipstick and walk into the audition with confidence and a smile. It was Friday, the day of my final tryout. I struggled to focus the whole day through school and all I could think about was what was to happen later that day. After school, I put on my black leotard, pinned my audition number to my clothes, slicked my hair into a bun, and put on the brightest shade of red lipstick I could find. I practiced the perfect performance smile in the mirror before walking out onto the gym floor to practice. "Ninety six!" My number had been called and it was time for me to go. I walked to the middle of the dance floor, thinking "left, right, left, right," making sure not to trip. My smile was so colossal that my face was shaking. The judges sat in front of me, "whenever you're ready," they said. My music played and I began moving, hitting every move precisely and going through each turn gracefully, and then the music came to an end. "Thank you," I said, and walked off the floor. I was to wait in the gym until my results were announced. This took about three hours, three extremely long,
