Hats, boots, high kicks, and leaps, also known as; the world of drill teams. The stars that brighten the Cy-Fair skyline, as the Gold Dusters are called, are JV’s drill team. As glamorous as they may make it look, the pressure to represent the team and themselves is on 24/7. The team’s Colonel, Madison Williams, however, is the most looked to of all. So, what is being the colonel like to her?
A Colonel of a drill team is the dancer that leads the team, but to Williams, it means more!
“It means not being scared to be the person that people look to to take action or to know what to do next and just being a well-rounded leader overall,” Williams stated.
When rising up to a big role such as Colonel, there are bound to be changes.
Williams said “My mindset changed. I’ve always been hard on myself because I just hate embarrassing myself, but now I don’t want to let my team down because I’m over them.”
Becoming Colonel also means taking on a lot more responsibility than another position.
“Dance wise is one part of being on top of knowing my dances, being able to answer any questions, being open and also the personal aspect of being the person that people aren’t scared to come to if they need to talk,” Williams said.
Along with more responsibility comes lessons learned when possessing the title of Colonel.
Williams said, “It has taught me communication skills more than anything because my first year as colonel, people told me I came off as mean, but it was just because I think my tone, especially at 6 am, can really be not the best in the way I communicate things, so that’s definitely a big lesson I’ve learned.”
Holding the title of Colonel affects more than just time inside the dance room.
“I’m always on top of it, no matter where I am, what I’m doing. I could be downtown doing something, but I know that I always represent Jersey Village everywhere I go. You’d be surprised how many people know exactly who you are,” Williams said.
Being in any extracurricular activity requires passing grades, but as Colonel, there is another level of expectation.
Williams said, “At the end of the day, it makes me on top of my schoolwork because I know when I get home, I need to review counts or I need to clean a dance or do stuff like that. When I leave the campus, I make sure that all my work is done because the second I get home, I need to make sure that everything is good for Gold Dusters and then the second I wake up, I go straight to Gold Dusters.”
Before Williams was Colonel, however, she was sophomore lieutenant, which held entirely different responsibilities, meaning she had to transition between the titles.
“My first year as an officer, I was just a sophomore lieutenant and whenever you become a younger officer, they always tell you, ‘This is your year to just observe, you have so many years ahead of you to build up to a top dog position.’ I didn’t really get that. So then the next year, surprisingly, I became the captain,” Williams said.
Not only is Williams the team’s Colonel, but she is also the first to have the title for two years in a row, both junior and senior year.
“It sounds like such a big thing. I mean I’m proud of myself, but it’s just me.”
The expectations that come along with being Colonel can be very discouraging, but Williams goes about it with grace and humility.
“I feel like the team always looks as though ‘Madison’s always perfect,’ but I promise you, I was probably messing up more than you were. Definitely never perfect ever, ever, ever.” Williams said with a smile.
While being Colonel comes with a lot of added pressure, responsibilities, and expectations, Williams is able to be the real, silly, and understanding Colonel that every dance team needs to stay motivated and on their A game.
