The Joy in Jewelry 

A feeling of joy swept over her as she found the lost treasure. Some may not realize its value, but to her it’s priceless. As I sit with Caroline Boland, a senior at Heritage High School, she recalls a moment in which the emotion tied to this treasure is visible on her face. I had previously asked her what she would say has been the best moment of her life, and she responded almost instantly. With a big smile, she happily replied with a story about her grandmother.

“I would say it was the day I got my necklace from my grandmother back. My grandmother and I were close even though we lived far apart. She gave the necklace to me when I was really young, and I kept losing it. I was able to find it the other day, and it is really pretty. It is one of the only things I have from my grandmother,” she explains.

School: Yay or Nay?

As we continued talking, I wondered what she thought about school. When asked about what her favorite part of school was, she simply responded with, “Guard…definitely Guard”.  Caroline is heavily involved with the Legion of Generals guard and is one of the section leaders (or “captains”) for the Colorguard. She got further into this later, but at the moment I flipped the question and asked what she didn’t like about school. “The pressure . . . Pressure is put on you to do well in so many different areas. Not just from teachers, but also from friends sometimes. I want to do well but not in all the areas people want”. 

Guarding the Legion

So returning to the topic of Colorguard, I questioned her on why she chose to join the Colorguard in the first place.

“Well, my brother is four years older than me and when he was in high school, all he did was play the trumpet. Since I was young at the time, I got to go watch all of his shows, and I just thought it was so cool,” she responds with excitement as the old feelings of amazement come back. “Spartacus was definitely one that I loved. I remember just sitting there wanting to be a part of it all. So now I am!” 

“It sounds like you really love guard,” I responded, “but I’m sure it also comes with challenges and unique situations that you have to work with, being a section leader.”

“It’s less about the guard aspect and more about the people. You have thirty-four girls hang out for an entire summer. Some that don’t mix very well, it’s very difficult to deal with, especially when people have a hard time acting mature. I love them all though and wouldn’t change it!” 

“I can definitely understand that. Put anyone together for that long in a stressful environment, and it can become challenging. Even through all this though, there are many amazing moments. So what is it you are working for? What is the biggest reward to being a part of the color guard?”

She ponders this for a moment but answers boldly after only a minute, “I definitely would say one of the greatest feelings is just performing. Just standing on the field under the lights waiting to perform. The feeling of catching all my tosses and being able to walk off knowing all our work came together. That feeling is one of the best feelings I have ever experienced in my life.” 

Passionate Future

I then decided to take the conversation in a different direction. “So we’ve talked a lot about school and all the things you are passionate about, but I would also like to know, in today’s world what issue are you passionate about? What would you like to see changed?”

Without hesitation, she responds with flare, “I think the biggest issue that everybody has right now is that people are too sensitive. They take everything to heart, and they think everything everyone says is about them. They feel they need to express their opinion on every situation even when it may not be the appropriate time. I think people need to know more about something before they start talking about it. Too many people make a big deal out of things they don’t have any information on. People need to learn to be able to not take things seriously and move on”. 

Keeping with the idea of the future, we continued to talk about what big goals she has and where she sees herself years from now. I can tell this question makes her think, and she responds in a way that was a match that sparked a fire of ideas in my head about my own future. 

“I really want to graduate college with good grades. Hopefully get a nice career where even if the pay is low, I’m happy. I just don’t want to be unhappy in whatever I choose to do with my life. Maybe a long time from now, I’ll have a family. I want to start a good family. I want to change that part of my life and get that experience. I would love to go to KSU. I want to study Media and Entertainment. Social media is becoming such a big platform, and I think it is such a powerful tool for someone who wants to influence people to make change. I want to learn more about how to use it to influence the future generations.”

The Future’s Gifts

Going over our conversation later, I couldn’t help but think about the story of the necklace. The importance and significance of it and how it stood for so much more than just being a simple accessory. I’m curious about who she may give that very same necklace to in her future. With Caroline’s desire for a happy loving family, I see that necklace living on to be worn by many more.