Ali Rogers fought exhaustion. Although practice came to an end, the next two performances steadily approached. The sun was just setting but she knew from experience that the rest of the guard and band would not be done for another 24 hours. During marching season, this was the usual weekend schedule.

Since her freshman year at Mansfield High School, senior Ali Rogers contributed to the color guard. Becoming a captain her senior year, Ali considered applying as a high school tech in college and aspired to be a part of a professional guard.

“It started in seventh grade,” Rogers said. “I went to the homecoming game at Mansfield, and I saw the guard. I looked over at my friends, and I said ‘I want to do that. That’s cool.’”

After a year in both color guard and ROTC, Rogers had to choose between her two passions. Being a captain of ROTC at the time, Rogers claims it was not an easy decision to make.

“Here [at Legacy] I really liked ROTC and I really liked guard. It was really hard because I couldn’t graduate if I stayed in both,” she said. “My sophomore year I was planning to go to the army until a found another way to get into college. My major plan was to go be active in the army, so they would pay for my college.”

Rogers says that although most of the time the girls all get along, she names the occasional high school drama as the lowest point of guard.

“We see each other at our worst moments. We see each other when we’re gross and sweaty. We see each other when we’re dead tired and it’s four o’ clock in the morning because we just got home from a competition,” Rogers said. “You are not only spending time with all 32 of those girls but you’re also spending time with the directors and you’re having to deal their decisions that they make,” Rogers said.

She admitted at times it got overwhelming, but regards it as one of the best experiences of her life.

“I’ve met a lot of very interesting people and friends. I’ve seen some things I never thought I could do like I never thought I could spin a sabre well. That’s nice to be good a something,” Rogers said.