Today we have a very special interview for you. As most that attend AYOP are aware, there is a special opportunity every September offered to only a small handful of some of the nations most entertaining twirlers. Each of these twirlers are hand selected based on their performance abilities and advanced twirling skills. The sponsors attend AYOP, and after watching many twirlers compete, and comparing results with personal recommendations, they are invited to interview to be a part of that year's class. Once selected, they have the chance to travel for two weeks to Peru to participate in a once in a life time opportunity full of appearances and performances.
For the 2018 class traveling to Peru as Baton Twirling Ambassadors for the 68th International Festival of the Spring, one of our very own Texas Twirlers was selected - Josie Linson!
Josie is a name many around Texas should be familiar with. She is from Round Rock, Texas, has been twirling for ten years, and is currently a Feature Twirler for Round Rock High School. As a member of Twirl ATX, and Co-Captain of the Twirl ATX Diamonds team, Josie is primarily coached by Whitney King Coons. Josie holds two previous State Pageant titles, was Senior State and Regional Royalty last season, and is a 2018 UIL State Solo & Ensemble Outstanding Performer.
We wanted to talk with Josie about her experiences in Peru and what it was like being an Ambassador to both her sport and her country in another continent!
As we know, the "Peru Crew" each year is selected at AYOP. How does that happen? "I had to go through an interview while I was there, and I found out the week after I came home. I had a dance party in my car when I found out that I had been chosen!"
Car Happy Dance? Totally understandable! Now that you have been to Peru and back, how would you sum up this trip to someone who wasn't familiar with it? "Going to Peru was such an unforgettable trip! I made fast friends with all of the other girls and getting to share the experience with them was so much fun. We did so many performances for the people of Trujillo, including nursing homes, orphanages, and a boys home. We attended press conferences, the crowning of the festival queen, and we ended the week with marching in the five mile parade, which is the highlight of the festival."
A five mile parade? That sounds intense! What was that like? "My favorite event was definitely the five mile parade. We got to throw a ton of cool tricks and the people loved it! I had so much fun during the parade that it didn’t even feel like five miles! The joy I felt getting to perform for thousands of people was truly indescribable. It was also really cool to know that my family got to watch the parade on livestream while I was there, and getting to see those videos when I got home."
Being in another country as a visiting performer, what part of the experience was not what you expected? "I was incredibly happy to get to serve in Peru and twirl, but I was pleasantly surprised at how in love they were with the twirlers! Twirling for excited crowds was so fun!!!"
We can imagine! Nothing like the cheer of a crowd. What would you say will be your most lasting memory of this trip? "The joy on the people’s faces when we performed for them and talked with them will stay with me forever. The people of Peru were so kind and welcoming and I will never forget that."
That sounds amazing! With all of these life changing moments with a group of girls from all over the country, there had to be some silly memories as well. What is the funniest story from the trip? "On one of the first days that we were in Trujillo, three of our girls got stuck in the hotel elevator between floors, and they documented the whole thing on Snapchat. They were in there for about twenty minutes or so, but we all had a good laugh about it when they got out!"
How funny! What a crazy Snapchat story to follow! Speaking of items from your daily live, what "home comforts" did you miss the most when in Peru? "I really missed fast food! We ate a bunch of delicious food while we were there, but a lot of us started craving McDonald’s after the first few days."
Now that you are back in the US (hopefully having filled your craving for McDonalds) and able to look back on the experience, what advice would you give another twirler preparing for the same trip in the future? "Pack more than what you think you will need, go in with an open mind and a willingness to try new things, and try to document every moment when you have a chance, because this trip is a whirlwind and you’ll be so surprised by how quickly it flies by."
A huge congrats goes out to Josie from #teamtexas on being selected for this opportunity, and we want to thank her for representing us so beautifully. We appreciate her taking time to share her Peru journey with us and we cannot wait to see what the rest of this year brings for her.
We hope everyone enjoyed the interview and we look forward to seeing who is selected next year for the 2019 class attending the 69th International Festival of the Spring.
We hope you have enjoyed this blog post. We are always looking for great new stories about Texas twirlers. Do you have an idea or some information we could use to help highlight our sport? Contact us at texastwirlcontact@gmail.com and we would love to hear more about it!
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