I asked Danielle Ramos, “Do you think that Marching Band or Color Guard is best?”
Her answer: “No comment…”
Danielle Ramos is a 16-year-old junior at Glendale High School, who likes to crochet and knit. She is part of several clubs but mainly focuses on the Filipino Club, Fashion Club, and Hunger Heroes. She also enjoys taking walks with her mom and she’s learning to play the guitar.
During her eighth-grade year on Zoom, Danielle saw a flyer to join the color guard team at GHS, and it said that this would make up for her PE credits. She also knew that it was probably easier than running the track.
“It was cool,” Danielle said. “It was like, I get to dance. I get to do cool things with the flag. So I decided to do that instead.”
Before she had joined the team, Danielle said she had never heard of the color guard before, except for when she saw it at the Rose Bowl Parade on New Year’s Day. Because of this, she had never found an interest in color guard prior to joining.
Now that she has spent more than enough time with what some might consider a close and trusting community, Danielle admits that color guard is not really what she expected. “I didn’t know we would do competitions,” she said. “I didn’t know we’d…actually, like, perform [at] half times. And so, yeah, it’s different [from what I expected].”
Danielle is very excited about the upcoming color guard seasons. For her, color guard is a place that brings a lot of anticipation and great connections with fellow students, year after year.
A great example is Danielle’s relationship with her senior co-captain, Onyx Camacho. “Oh my gosh, I have so much fun with them,” she said. “They make me so happy, as well as everyone else in guard.”
Danielle also has great affection for the new freshmen members on the team. “The new people this year… they’re, like, so cute,” she said. “I adore them all so much.”
Danielle also talks about the level of accountability necessary to work together: “I think you trust in one another, to do their part, so that way, you all look great together.” Danielle also noted, “As for understanding [others], I think it has to do with patience.” This makes sense when you’re literally throwing a flag in the air, and trying to make it look pretty.
Danielle wants people to recognize the hard work that, not only she, but all of her teammates, put into their shows. She claimed, “Like every other sport here on campus, we have put in so much time, energy, and passion into our work, into creating art. Because color guard is a sport of the arts.” With this being Danielle’s third year on the team, she certainly has had enough experience to perfect this artform.
Danielle also has much love for GHS music director, Ms. Amy Rangel. She said, “I wanna say, for everyone who doesn’t know Ms. Rangel, [that she] is one of the
sweetest people that I will ever cherish in my life. And I owe so much to her because she has provided me such a space where I can feel myself, [the] self that no one else really sees.
Danielle also certainly has nothing but nice things to say about the GHS music department. “I definitely think [that] people, besides just [those on] color guard, should also recognize the music department,” she said. “We’re…on, like, the far side of campus, and I think people should acknowledge and see us more, as well as watch…our performances and stuff.”
Once Danielle finishes high school, her biggest goal is to work in Psychology, and she is currently taking classes to help her achieve this goal. And if she changes her mind, Danielle says she’ll do something in the medical field.
If you are interested in joining the color guard squad, follow them on Instagram: @glendalecolorguard, and contact Ms. Rangel at [email protected].
