BATON ROUGE, La. (BRProud) – Emily Dozier didn’t let a one time rejection stop her from reaching her dream of becoming a Kilgore College Rangerette in Kilgore, Texas.
“If you don’t make it once, there’s no reason you shouldn’t try again,” said Dozier.
The Rangerette team is the first ever dancing drill team in the country and have been kickin’ since 1940. Dozier was hesitant about dancing in college as it’s something she’s been doing her entire life and wanted to focus on a future career in the medical field. She even danced four years at Denham Springs High School as a Jackette.
Dozier tried out for Rangerettees going into her freshman year, but didn’t make the team and studied at LSU, but had a change of heart after her first year of college.
“The summer going into my sophomore year, my friend made the LSU Tiger Girls. After that I was like you know I might try and do that. My mom was like no you need to try out for Rangerettes and I was like okay yeah.”
The reason her mom was so motivating is because she too was a Rangerette from 1995 to 1997. Dozier grew up going to camps and going to Rangerette events so it was nothing new to her.
The tryout process spanned several days that were intense, but the Dozier kept the faith. The moment she found out she made the team, it was a moment she said she’ll never forget.
“She was just crying. We have so many pictures. I know for her and a lot of moms who have girls who were both Rangerettes. It means so much more because they know what it’s like to go through this and they just love it.”
As Dozier gears up for her freshman year on the team, what is she looking forward to the most?
“I’m very very excited to start practicing and start learning from the directors. Just to be able to dance with girls with the same motivation as me for that amount of time will be very rewarding for me.”
Emily wants to remind anyone out there to go after what they want even if you don’t get it the first time.
“One no is not a forever no. A no can lead to a yes if you put the work in.”
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