By Allison Owen A new year brings a chance to start fresh. Every year we make resolutions and vow to do something differently than the year before. Some of us are strong enough to keep this vow, while others give in. With this new year I intend to do things a little differently to prepare for drum corps and other areas of life.

Allison Owen
In the off season I have prepared, but not as much as I could. I practice and try to get myself into the best shape possible, but there's still more that I could do. I know I'm not the only one guilty of this, but I'm going to try to do my part to make myself as ready for my final auditions in April as possible. I'm about to enter my final semester of high school, which is also obviously my last season of high school guard. I'm going to try to have a more positive outlook on rehearsals this year. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy winter guard, but there are the occasions when I find myself in that "funk" of not wanting to go spend hours working on our four-and-a-half minute show -- especially as we get closer to the end of the year. This season I'm going to enjoy the time I have with my girls, because this is the last one I've got with them. In the past I have formed a bad habit of procrastinating, and this year I'm going to try to break it. This applies to drum corps and school. I'm not going to wait until March or even April to prepare for my auditions and I'm not going to wait until the night before a paper is due to start it. Everything has worked out alright in the past with this plan of attack, but I've cut it close one too many times. Hopefully this year I'll be able to stick with these "resolutions." 2006 promises to be an even better year than 2005 and its great times. I'm not sure what 2006 has in store, but I've got a fresh outlook on life and I'm ready for this new year. Allison Owen, 17, is a senior at Sullivan Central High School in Blountville, Tenn. She was assistant conductor at Southwind, and she enjoys dancing, performing, color guard, writing, English, and having fun. She plans on attending Western Carolina University next fall...