Bridget Martinez is a 16-year-old sophomore at Miami High who lives with her mom, dad, and little sister. Bridget’s involved in several activities at the school. She is part of the ensemble cast in the school’s upcoming play Mean Girls, a member of the school’s Color Guard, and the Sophomore Board’s public relations officer. She’s also a colorful character who’s known for having a wide array of acquaintances. Even when she’s exhausted and frustrated with everything she has to do, she still tries her hardest to keep everything running smoothly.
Color Guard/Million Dollar Band
Bridget has wanted to be a part of the school’s Color Guard since 8th grade. She says that when she was younger, she danced, and that Color Guard was a good reason to get back into an old hobby, and that she was excited to learn more things like spinning flags and rifles. She says being in Color Guard is extremely difficult as well as mentally and physically exhausting due to the constant rehearsing, and that it’s stressful and time-consuming, but that “you can make it work”.
As part of Color Guard, she is also part of Million Dollar Band (MBD), so she often performs in front of large groups of people. She says that the ten minutes before the show begins are always the most nerve-wracking, but being able to perform in front of everyone and show off all her skills and the fruits of her labor make everything worth it.
Even with all the restrictions and time-consuming practice, Bridget still loves being in MBD because she gets to perform with her friends doing something she loves. As of when this is being written though, she’s not sure if she wants to continue with Color Guard. If she does leave Color Guard, she plans on joining the band and marching with an instrument. Right now, she’s playing the French horn in beginning band, but next year she wants to play the mellophone.
Sophomore Board
Bridget is the Sophomore Board’s public relations officer, and she worked hard to become an officer. Initially, she was running for president, and she enlisted the help of her friends (including me) to make her campaign the best it could possibly be. To run for a club position, you have to make hundreds of flyers, several large banners, and a video advertising yourself, all within a certain budget. I remember going to her house along with our friends to make the banners. On the day the campaign officially started, I even helped her put everything up after school. Though she ended up losing as president, she’s currently doing a wonderful job handling the Board’s public relations.
As public relations officer, she oversees the Sophomore Board’s social media accounts, meaning that she makes all the Instagram posts promoting events for her fellow students, like the annual Homecoming Parade (HOCO). For Bridget, the days leading up to HOCO and even the big day itself were all extremely stressful due to how many clubs she is involved in. She was happy they had a nice banner and a good performance for the parade though.
She notes, “I guess it was easier in freshman year because I wasn’t in as many activities and only had to worry about Freshman Board. Now since I’m in Sophomore Board along with a bunch of other stuff, it got more hectic as I struggled to balance all of those and my position as a class officer.”
Bridget really loves being in Board though and has made many friends she’s grown close to through it. She loves being an officer and helping plan out events because “you get to see the beginnings of those events sprout into something really nice and cool.”
Theater
At first, theater was a last elective option for her and when she got it, she was pretty scared. As time went on though, Bridget learned how to present herself onstage, give herself a stronger stage presence, and flourish as an actor. She loves theater because she likes having the ability to be whoever she wants on stage.
She’s come to love theater so much that she considers it something she could pursue in the future. She hasn’t participated in any of the school’s previous productions, but she is participating in this year’s adaptation of Mean Girls as an ensemble member. She was ecstatic when she found out she got to be part of the musical because she loves Mean Girls.
Social Life
Within her circle of close friends, Bridget is known for having a wide array of acquaintances. She says the reason why she knows so many people is because of all the extracurriculars she’s involved herself in. Through these, she gets to meet people who are interested in the same things as her and bond over it with them. Sometimes having to maintain so many different relationships with so many people can be stressful, even more so when you consider these people’s relationships with each other, but even so, she loves having so many connections, so she’s never alone.
Usually, she spends the most time with her friends in MBD, since they spend a lot of time practicing together and they spend a lot of time hanging out right before games too. Her favorite memory with her friends is performing at Magic Kingdom with the band because “Being able to say you performed with your friends in Magic Kingdom is a once in a lifetime opportunity that can’t go unmentioned.”
