![Walking through the tunnel created by the cheerleaders and Celebrities, senior Frances Tran smiles as the soccer team is sent off during DEN for their playoff game against Rouse tonight. Tran said the wins against Smithson Valley and Alamo Heights gave the team a morale boost to take on the Raiders tonight. “I know we were not 100% confident in those games,” Tran said. “But, Rouse is a big opponent for sure. We’re definitely going into tonight with a lot of morale [because of the previous wins].”](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/frances-tran.jpg)
![Holding a bucket of materials in one hand and a roll of tape in another, anatomy and biology teacher Tyler Terry prepares for a lab. Terry said his proudest moments are when his students are happy to see him. “When I take my wife to a football game or something and a bunch of students want to say hi to me or they like to smile and wave and it just makes me feel good that the students are really kind and supportive of me,” Terry said. “[I’m also] proud when I see students perform really well in their extracurriculars because I can see how hard they’re working in my classes, [so] when I see that they’re also working so hard in other things. Like they’re winning band competitions or they’re getting awards for their theater productions, or I see them put on their choir shows, that’s like, wow, you guys are incredible.”](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Rags-6.png)
![Catching a ball, junior Alivia Robinson plays at the Cedar Park vs Glenn game. Having played since she was 5 years old, she is dedicated to softball and has committed to UTPB for softball. “When I got my offer it took me a very long time to decide where,” Robinson said. “Softball has always been my dream for college, and UTPB is my fit. When [I committed] I knew I was going to be loved and supported.”](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Lilly-Adams-3.13aliviaedit-901.jpg)
![Holding her dog, Nova, senior Ariana Balakrishnan poses for her senior pictures while Nova wears a bandana with her college decision. Balakrishnan applied to 18 colleges in total, but she decided on Columbia in the end. “Right before I clicked the button to open Columbia’s letter, I literally looked at the camera and go ‘This is just gonna really suck because I wanted it so bad,’ and I clicked it and all of a sudden you hear trumpets,” Balakrishnan said. “There’s a video that plays when you open it and I actually didn’t watch the video, I just watched the screen go black, because every day of December before ED [Early Decision] I would go on YouTube and watch the acceptance video to manifest it, so immediately when the screen went black, I started screaming and jumping up and down. And my parents in the video are like ‘What are you doing, where’s the letter,’ and I was just screaming ‘I got in, I got in.” I just started crying, and it just felt like everything in the world came together.”](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/ariana-2-300x217.jpg)
The band performed their show “Undying Love” Friday, Nov. 1 and Nov. 2 in San Antonio for the annual Bands of America Super Regional contest. The BOA competition is different from UIL because the theme is taken in to account, which was exciting for this year’s band because of their “Stairway to Heaven” prop that the color guard jumps from at the end of the show.
At the BOA competition, the band made it to finals and placed 14th overall.
But for Drum Major junior Autumn Whaley, the placement isn’t what’s most important.
“Doing well at competition I define as just having a great run,” Whaley said. “So the placement is always kind of an extra bonus.”
According to tenor trombone player senior Anna Wessels, competition is all about sharing it with her fellow band members.
“The best part of competing is sharing a great moment with others that have worked just as hard as you for a final product,” Wessels said.
And for some band members, like flute player sophomore Allison Mae, competing is a rush.
“The best part about competing for me, is the thrill of going out onto the field and showing off all of your hard work and the goose bumps you get after a good performance,” Mae said.
Why does band do so well in competition? According to Mae, it’s the many practices.
“We do so well in competitions because we work together as a team to make things better during rehearsals, and then apply them in our performance with a lot of concentration,” Mae said.
The hard work isn’t stopping yet for band, they will be competing at the UIL state marching competition Nov. 4-5
Mae is very confident about the upcoming competition.
“I see the band making State finals but if we don’t win state, I believe we will be close,” Mae said.
