The Silver Scroll

MISS AMERICA: SHOW US YOUR SHOES (EVEN IN THE RAIN)

--Marissa Realdine

They say one of the things that we learn throughout our years of NJROTC is patience and perseverance. Well, we certainly learned how to do that this weekend. The Sterling High School marching band and cheerleaders had to learn alongside us.

We arrived at Sterling High School for the Miss America: Show Us Your Shoes parade in Atlantic City around 1:30 in the afternoon, leaving school around 2:15. We noticed as we drove down to Atlantic City that a few raindrops started to fall. This didn’t phase us much: so we would get a little wet, who cares? We were very, very wrong. Once we arrived at Atlantic City around 3:30, we got off of the bus and unloaded, standing on the grass and waiting to figure out where to go. Channel SNJ Today came by and even recorded a short interview with Senior Chief O'ski!

The drizzling turned to pouring rain. By the time the parade started, we were all drenched and cold. The ROTC color guard had to do their best to hold on to wet rifles; the marching band had to face heavy, wet flags. But still, everyone managed to pull through. The band sounded beautiful, the cheerleaders were getting the crowd pepped for the parade, and the ROTC stayed on step and looked sharp. I was in the front of the ROTC platoon, but I heard only great things about the color guard behind us.

A special round of applause to the ROTC color guard, sticking it out and switching without skipping beats. It started off with (from left to right): Marissa Realdine, Emily Fey, Shaniyla Johnson, and Grant Horner. Marissa and Grant switched places with Bobby Gaffney and Matthew Harry. Then Emily and Shaniyla switched positions with Delaney Carr and Manny Alamo. We all switched again time after time, doing all different positions, but everyone looked wonderful. Also, great job to Brandon Benigno and Nick Baltera, who kept the unit on step and on cadence. And finally, great job to Charles Arrigo, who commanded everyone to victory.

We were wet--soaked, actually. We were cold and we were tired. But overall, I think everyone had a great time. We got to talk with friends and see Miss Ohio, who we had the honor of marching behind in the parade! I think we all learned something about ourselves, and that is to pull through for the person next to you. Great job to everyone!