I first joined color guard when I was 13-years-old, going into my freshman year of high school. And throughout my time in high school, I participated in the color guard each year and I spent hours marching on the field with my peers.

Each year, I fell more in love with color guard as my skills progressed and I made friends. Throughout my time in color guard, I learned about leadership and team building.

Once high school was over, I enjoyed performing and being in the color guard so much that I made it a goal of mine to join the Cavalier Marching Band at the University of Virginia.

I have been to competitions, too many football games to count, and a bowl game. I have spent hours marching, remembering choreography, doing the same thing 50 times, and cheering at football games because I love being a part of the marching band and performing in the shows.

But one of the downfalls of being in color guard is outside the people in marching band world, no one seems to know who you are.

I am not saying that I want the color guard to be the stars of the show or that I participate in color guard because I want people to notice me. I am part of the color guard because it is fun and challenging. Participating in color guard has helped make me become the person I am today, has taught me important lessons, and has allowed me the chance to work with some great people.

I am talking about how I continuously meet people who mistake me for being a part of the dance team, refer to color guard as the "flag team" to me, or do not know what I do entirely.

People in color guard are not the dance team, they are not cheerleaders, and they are not twirlers. These groups are all amazing and I wish I could do some of the things that they can do, but I can’t because as a person in color guard I have a different set of talents.

I have been in color guard for six years at two different schools and I am always meeting people do not even know what we are called or have any idea what we do. I am not angry or mad, I completely understand. I just want to share with you some the basic things about the color guard.

First of all, we spin, we don't twirl. The color guard is usually seen spinning flags. A typical flag is a six-foot pole with a silk attached. Silks come in all different colors, shapes, and sizes. There are also other types of flags that can be spun, they are called swing flags and chain flags. In color guard, we can spin saber and rifle as well. Also at football games and parades, we are occasionally seen with pom poms.

Secondly, there are elements of dance in color guard! The range of dance experience varies from person to person. Some of us have danced for years, while others have very little dance experience.

Most importantly, we are a part of the marching band. This may seem obvious, but when I tell people about color guard they often ask if we practice with the band. The answer is yes. While the band practices music we listen and learn choreography. Sometimes the color guard practices on our own but a lot of our time is spent with the rest of the marching band.

The color guard provides visual effects during the marching band performances. It is hard to tell if a person is not really playing their instrument, but it easy to tell when a person holding a six-foot, colorful flag does not know what they are doing. Therefore the color guard has to put in a lot of hard work to spin together and learn each show.

Overall, each section in the band plays an important role and we all have to work together to make the shows that you see on the football field possible. So the next time you are at a football game, I hope you know exactly who the color guard is because the color guard is a hard working section in the marching band and do not deserve to simply be called the flag team.