 I joined the Marine Corps when I was a senior in high school by the prompting of my mom. When I was a junior my brother had left for the Navy and I still had no clue what I wanted to do when I grew up or when I graduated from high school. My mom said I got the number to the Navy Band and I want you to give them a call. She even wrote it down on a piece of paper. She tore it up and she tacked it up in my bedroom so I would see it every day when I left. Fast forward to my senior year there were recruiters that were there in the cafeteria so I went to talk to them. They just happened to be Marine recruiters instead of Navy. So I walked up, I picked up the musicians pamphlet and of course the recruiters said oh you're a musician? I said yes. I'm going to be Sergeant Stacy Crowther originally from Alvin, Texas and I'm the assistant drum major for the President's Own United States Marine Band. So I went to the office. My mom said don't sign anything. I said mom I can't. I'm only 16. About a week later my mom went to the office with me because I turned 17 within that time. We watched the recruiting video, the whole crucible. We cried together and that's when I decided that I wanted to be a Marine. The journey that led me to my current billet is an exciting journey. I started out as I said as a flute player just marching flute, marching piccolo. Throughout the course and the progression of my career I attended the unit leader course and from there the curriculum dictates that you learn ceremonial conducting and drum majoring techniques. I'd never touched a mace before. I'd never been in front of the band before and the first time I was in front of the band I was pumping the mace and the band was playing the Marine Tim and the pride was so overwhelming. That's when I knew I wanted to be a drum major. As the assistant drum major for the Marine Band I lead the band on the march which means I'm the one that's out front. I give them commands both verbally and I use the mace that dictates it tells the band where we need to turn, when we need to stop, when we need to go. I lead the band on the march for full honors funerals in Arlington National Cemetery. Also for the evening parades that happen every Friday in the summer months at Marine Barracks Washington. When I joined the Marine Corps in 1999 I wanted to play my flute, I wanted to do my job, I wanted to do my job well. That was it. I never in a million years thought that I would ever be in a position of a role model, somebody that young girls could look at and say wow look mom I can do that one day too. I never thought I would be in this position being the first female assistant drum major. I have to pinch myself and say is this real? Is this really what I do? The advice that I would give to young women who may decide to join the Marine Corps or those that are early in their careers would be to be true to yourself. In the 2017 demographic the Marine Corps is 8.3% women. It's up to us to prove ourselves and we have to prove ourselves not just to our male counterparts around us but to ourselves. Prove that we are strong, we're confident, we're resilient, we can make it through and we are Marines.