Senior Hannah Noles was in an indoor drumline show last November through April, with an organization called the Winter Guard International (WGI). She was in a group that calls themselves Freedom Percussion.

According to the group’s website, “Freedom Percussion is a WGI independent open performing arts group based out of St. Louis, Missouri. Freedom aims to provide youth activities that enhance personal growth and development through excellence in education, entertainment, and competition.”

The show that Noles performed at was named Reflect, and it was about Alzheimer’s disease, which is a disease where usually older people lose their memory and other brain functions. Noles was the wife of a man who was losing his memory, and by the end of the show, can’t remember her.

“It [being on stage] was definitely very scary,” Noles said. “My first time doing it, we had a competition one Saturday, and I only learned what I was doing the Friday night before, so I was kind of winging it and hoping what I did was okay. As time went on, I got more used to it.”

A drumline is when many people who play drums/percussion instruments line up and perform a show through just the drums and the actors; it’s basically just what it sounds like. The group that Noles was in earned second place in the preliminary finals, second place in the semifinals, and overall, third place in the actual finals, which were in Dayton Ohio.

“You’ve really got to give it all you’ve got,” Noles said. “You’re all in, or you’re all out. If you’re going to be in a group like this, you have to give it everything that you have and show that you’re dedicated.”