Hello it's the kid you pushed so hard they hated you,

Firstly, let me start off with saying I no longer hate you even though we had some really rough spots, and you made me want to think about quitting nearly every long day of practice. I am so glad I stuck it out. You may not realize it but by you pushing me so hard you made me a better person. You made me the headstrong and determined person I am today. Thanks to you I now know that there is so much more to me than the person I was when I started. I may not have marched in the winter my senior year but I did carry on the advice you always seemed to unknowingly pass on with me.

You made me work hard. Well not just hard but harder than hard because you would push us to our limit and then still continue to push because you saw the greatness that we held with in us and knew that with a little elbow grease we could become great. Although you may not have made sense sometime (i.e. When you made us "build" a door). You made us work and always stressed that if we wanted something we had to put in full force work. Rome wasn't built in a day and I learned that the hard way from those god awful Saturday practices before competition when the sun wasn't even up yet I was with curlers and all. If I had know then that I would become the person I am today I probably would've joined sooner and worked harder. I don't know how you knew but somehow you saw the greatness in me that I didn't see for myself and for that I am grateful.

Although your opinion were sometimes very unwelcome and irritating it never stopped me from thinking about them at a later date and reconsider them because usually they were somewhat helpful and helped me develop a better technique or skill. Even though I may not have returned in the winter just know it was never your fault and I was tempted to return for you but my passion had been lost somewhere between the summer and the fall. Instead my passion fell more into dancing and I had felt a need to take a break and move to something else before my passion for the sport was all the way destroyed.

Lastly, I want to thank you for greeting me with warm welcomes and goodbyes as I graduated and for always counting as part of the team even after I had long gone and quit. Thank you for checking up on me and asking what my later plans were even though you never had to ask. It's because of you that my love didn't die and I still come as often as possible and support the best I can. I wish well and the best success as you did me as I got my final patch.

Thanks,

From the kid that is forever grateful

(P.S. We all knew you knew we were mocking you and your tasteful outfits behind props)