Common App PS - The effect that color guard had on my ability to plan and prioritize

Prompt 5:
Discuss an accomplishment, event, or realization that sparked a period of personal growth and a new understanding of yourself or others.
Thanks so much for reading and giving feedback! This is my first draft.

"logical thinker"

One of my favorite parts of elementary school was doing those "personality tests" that would tell you what type of intelligence you had. I still remember seeing the words "logical thinker" and feeling so proud to the point of basing my entire identity around it.

Despite being proud of my logical thinker status, it would never come to my advantage because I didn't know how to use my strengths. Where I loved Sudoku and math problems, I struggled in organizing my priorities and the thoughts ringing around in my head. My attempts at multitasking and being an efficient person would always fall flat. I wasn't able to manage the seemingly thousands of responsibilities I always thought I had, and in turn, I was always stressed and couldn't perform to the best of my abilities at school.

One of those responsibilities I always had was color guard. When I started taking color guard seriously, I enjoyed it because it was a way for me to use my strengths in logical thinking and apply it to my technique and ability to catch choreography fast. I realized that even though guard and dancing was still an art, being a logical thinker came to my advantage since there are still always technical elements in dance.

The part that challenged me was performing. The anxiety from seeing the harsh lights at the stadium and knowing that hundreds of people were watching my every move was almost too much to bear. I knew that performing a whole color guard routine meant that I had to worry the details. I had to constantly be thinking about my pointed toes and stretched legs, the rifle, my facial expressions, and if I was running out of energy to do the next move. This sort of multitasking proved to be one of my weaknesses, and at every performance, I would have a mini panic attack that would result in a lackluster performance and a disappointed performer.

After completely botching a performance, I decided that something had to change. I needed to calm down my nerves and instead focus on what I had to do during the performance. I realized that I had to make a plan for those essential five minutes.

Before every performance while we were warming up, I would run the entire show in my head and focus on which element was most important, whether it be my rifle technique or my facial expressions. This resulted in a better performance overall and an acknowledgement that I could focus on the important parts of the performance to make it better.

The improvement in my performance quality started subconsciously applying to me in school as well. I would start planning out my routines and assignments to figure out what details were essential, and which weren't. Instead of trying to multitask, I was able to effectively to sort out my priorities and be a more balanced person.

My new planning strategy allowed me to use my logical thinking more and be a more balanced individual. I was challenged again when I completed my internship on data analysis. Because of my past experience with planning, I was able to not only effectively collect data and see how I could draw conclusions from it, but I was also able to manage the different responsibilities I had during the internship, such as working a part-time job, taking care of my brother, and color guard.

My outlook on working and completing tasks shifted from multitasking different things at the same time to instead to logically think about how to achieve my different goals. I was able to manage my time and have a healthier outlook on my life.

Provide an explanation of what a color guard is. A clarification is needed since not everyone will be familiar with what I perceive to be a military drill /activity. If the reader does not know what this activity is all about, he will not be able to make the topic connection. Without the connection, the essay will not accomplish its task.

Do not include a secondary topic discussion in this case.Too much time has already been spent building the color guard discussion, making it the more effective reference. If there is a personal sense that the second topic could be better built up to create a more interesting tone, then change the reference in totality.