Wearing the kilt for The Woodlands High School comes with a great cost, which is something I learned during my interview with our current mascot: Grady Barrows.

Barrows decided he wanted to run for mascot during a pep rally his junior year. He was the guest mascot for the Mardi Gras pep rally, and halfway through it he came to a decision. “I was like…this is awesome. I love having a lot of energy around me. People were excited for me to be there.”

Before becoming the mascot this year, Barrows was highly involved in our Theatre program, which helped him ease into playing the role of the highlander much easier. “The mascot isn’t just me, it’s a character I’m putting on,” he said. Barrows is also used to the strain on his voice thanks to Theatre, saying that vocal work is essential, and can’t be taken lightly. Lots of tea, lemon drops, and throat spray.

The most taxing part of the job, however, is the busy schedule. Leading up to a pep rally, Barrows writes and rehearses his skit, chooses a guest star, preps his body and voice for his performance, travels to the freshman campus to perform, and finally comes back to the main campus for another performance. And, if Barrows has an away game to go to, he travels there with the cheer team at least an hour early, attends the entire game and does a cheer out for the cheerleaders afterwards before going home. “Last game I got home…about 11:45.”

The grueling process doesn’t go unnoticed by Barrows, either. “My energy is high so I conserve it…[but] the bus ride is literally just sitting there,” he explains. “It can be very tiring…whenever [I] get home [I] go straight to bed.”

However, being the mascot does come with its benefits. Barrows describes how much he is known now that he wears the kilt: “I was in the hall…this girl walked up to me and goes ‘that’s the mascot,’ and I was like woah.” Barrows says that “people who knew me before know me as Grady, and people I meet now know me as the mascot.”

One other thing I discussed with Barrows was the highlander not being a traditional mascot. When asked if he would rather wear a normal mascot costume, I was met with a resounding no, “I’m the only mascot that can talk,” he says.

Wearing the kilt is a tough job, and not one that just anybody can handle. I’m confident, however, that there isn’t a better highlander for the job than our own Grady Barrows.