{"id":47896,"date":"2019-09-18T14:52:21","date_gmt":"2019-09-18T19:52:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/?p=47896"},"modified":"2019-09-18T14:52:23","modified_gmt":"2019-09-18T19:52:23","slug":"%ef%bb%bfwith-honors-college-and-flags-student-finds-strength-to-stretch-her-boundaries-at-fhsu","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/?p=47896","title":{"rendered":"\ufeffWith Honors College and flags, student finds strength to stretch her boundaries at FHSU"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Diane Gasper-O\u2019Brien
<\/strong> University Relations and Marketing
<\/em> Lailah Collins didn\u2019t think she would have time for one of her favorite extracurricular activities in college.

A 4.0 student and one of the valedictorians of her senior class at Wichita South High School, Collins decided to give up choir when she came to Fort Hays State University in the fall of 2018.

She thought she would be busy enough with her classes and involvement in the Honors College. The HC is a scholarship program that requires students to maintain a high GPA and participate in a certain number of activities on and off campus while focusing on the program\u2019s four pillars: academic excellence, engagement, leadership and continuous growth.

On her first day of classes, Collins discovered a new activity that aligns with several of those pillars \u2013 one that she calls life-changing.

While walking the quad and checking out various booths during the back-to-school picnic, Collins came across some information about the FHSU color guard, a group of students that does flag routines and performs with the Tiger band during home football games.

Right then and there, Collins decided to accept a new challenge and step out of her comfort zone. She has been a member of the color guard ever since.

Unlike many colleges, Fort Hays State does not hold tryouts for the color guard. So Collins began attending practices and started feeling more comfortable with her new venture.

The color guard and marching band are under the direction of Dr. Peter Lillpopp, assistant professor of music and theatre.

\u201cDr. Lillpopp believes if anyone has the desire to do something, then they have the right attitude and probably can do it,\u201d said Shelby Schumacher, the color guard coach. \u201cI have so many years experience coaching I can get about anyone caught up to speed.\u201d

Indeed.

Schumacher, a December 2017 graduate of FHSU, has been teaching baton twirling classes for about 10 years to students ranging from 2 years old to college age. Now, she not only coaches the FHSU color guard but also directs the flag teams at Hays High School and Hays Middle School as well.

Collins hadn\u2019t been involved in anything of the sort since she was in dance lessons as a 7-year-old but immediately felt comfortable with Schumacher as her coach.

\u201cShe is an amazing instructor,\u201d Collins said. \u201cShe\u2019s patient with us. And Dr. Lillpopp definitely is giving us a chance we wouldn\u2019t get at other colleges.\u201d

Collins, a double major (math and Spanish), was able to maintain a perfect 4.0 GPA during her freshman year and decided to continue with the color guard again this year.

Schumacher said it\u2019s rewarding to watch students of all levels participate.

\u201cIt\u2019s exciting because Lailah came to college not expecting anything like this,\u201d Schumacher said.
\u201cNow, she has \u00a0a group of friends to last a lifetime and a new talent, too.\u201d

The experience has been eye-opening for Collins.

\u201cI have to do my hair and makeup all the time for the games,\u201d Collins said, \u201cand I don\u2019t do that \u2013 ever.\u201d

There also is a time commitment. The color guard rehearses with the band two hours every Monday and Thursday afternoon and at 9 a.m. on game days, then practices with its own group every Wednesday night.

But it\u2019s something Collins will never regret trying.

\u201cIt\u2019s definitely up there with difficulty, coming in with no high school experience,\u201d she said. \u201cBut it\u2019s more fun than I expected. We\u2019ve bonded a lot this year. We\u2019re more than a team, more like a family.\u201d

Collins said she will never forget the feeling when she marched with the band from Tomanek Hall to Lewis Field Stadium for her first home game. It\u2019s a feeling of exhilaration she gets every time out.

\u201cThe streets were filled with cars, you hit the parking lot, and there are people everywhere,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s different than what I expected tailgating to be. Here, you see people all the way from small kids to college students playing games and laughing, adults having a good time. It\u2019s like a big family reunion, and it makes you feel so good to be a part of it.\u201d

As the band nears the stadium, it stops to play a couple of songs, and the color guard performs some routines as tailgaters gather round to watch.

\u201cIt\u2019s so crowded, and you have to really watch your flags not to hit something or someone,\u201d Collins said. \u201cIt\u2019s just a great feeling, all the excitement.\u201d

Collins has her sights set on graduating in four years, then pursuing both a master\u2019s and a doctorate with the goal of teaching at the college level.

She plans to use life skills learned at FHSU long after she leaves campus.

\u201cWhen I have to apply for grad school or for a job, I will be more accustomed to doing things I\u2019m not familiar with,\u201d she said, \u201cand not be afraid to do something different. That might have never happened if I hadn\u2019t decided to try something new in college.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Diane Gasper-O\u2019Brien University Relations and Marketing Lailah Collins didn\u2019t think she would have time for one of her favorite extracurricular activities in college. A… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":47897,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[11722],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-47896","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-press-releases"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/color-guard.jpeg?fit=1743%2C2558&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47896","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=47896"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47896\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":47898,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47896\/revisions\/47898"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/47897"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=47896"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=47896"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=47896"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}