Candle Light by Brytni

Candle Light by Brytni - October 2013 Scholarship Essay

A valuable lesson is a lesson that is learned that in the long run, becomes helpful to someone. Being on a Junior Varsity Cheer team as a Junior was the most difficult news I have ever gotten. I look at it now, and being on this team was a very valuable lesson to me that I had not learned in side a classroom. As a Sophomore, I was on the Varsity cheer team, cheering at football games, and did competitive cheer leading in the Winter. My junior year, I was moved down to JV as a leader on the team. It was hard to see my old teammates be ahead of me, I didn't really understand why I had gotten moved down. The team consisted of mostly freshman, which made it harder because I barely knew them. I started to just focus on myself, not the team or my teammates. I worked alone and made this sport even more difficult for myself. I became independent, and anyone who does cheer leading knows that it is not an independent sport. The first week, everything was a mess. I could not even bare it anymore. The thought that I was taking time and money and putting it into this sport to be held down anyways was starting to upset me. I decided to make a change in myself. Everyday, I would work one on one with each girl to help them succeed. This method did not seem to work. As our team got further into the season, my team was starting to see that we weren't improving if we did not work as a team. Stunts were still falling, games were embarrassing to cheer at, our team was a hot mess. My teammates had the worst attitudes everyday, and it was difficult for being to nicely give critiques because it was taken harshly. So I called for a team get together. My teammates stayed over at my house, ate, and had fun. Come night time, it was time to sit everyone down and gather around a candle light in the dark. This was tradition for Mason cheer teams to do because we talk about serious problems in our life, talk about what we do or do not like in school, and talk to teammates about critiques. Candle light gives the team a chance to build trust with one another. We went around in a circle twice around in case someone got comfortable with telling something that they were not comfortable with before. During this time, I learned a lot about my teammates. I learned how to be able to help each and everyone of them succeed in the sport we all love. I also learned why some people act the way that they do, due to past experiences. The team agreed that they want to have a successful season, and earn skills that they have never had. Since that sleepover, my teammates had got knew tumbling skills, and work harder for the next level. I had got my back walkover because of the help of my teammates. That next week of practice was completely productive. I could tell that each and every one of the girls was working their hardest and even pushing some of their limits. The improvement increases everyday. My stunt group has been hitting libs (one leg, extension stunt). The other stunt group is now doing twist cradles and work to perfect it when it does not go well. A few of the girls are working on their back hand-springs, including myself. My team motivates me to be my absolute best. They help me every day, and I help them as well. Candle light was time with them that was valuable lesson to me because since then my team had felt more trust among each other, and have been working their hardest at practices. Now, I have high hope in my team, and get excited to work with them everyday. Knowing that I am coming to practice to girls who work harder than people who are on a higher level than us is a satisfying feeling. I couldn't be more proud to be apart of my JV cheer team.