Cheerleading Changed My View by Julianne

Cheerleading Changed My View by Julianne - January 2017 Scholarship Essay

Cheerleading is an extracurricular activity I have been involved with since the fifth grade. I have enjoyed it and it has given me an outlet to not only express myself, but to keep me fit and healthy. It has been a way to decrease the stresses of hard classes and every-day life. It has also provided me with a second family because of the time and commitment it entails as well as the dependence we all have on each other in order to be successful. It has taught me time management to accomplish all of the things involved with my school work as well as a part time job. I never thought that as the end of my senior year gets closer I would already start to miss the things I once thought were work and sacrifice.
I look back at the things I could have been doing instead of long cheer practices and traveling for competition. There are other kids around me that were led astray due to boredom and lack of enthusiasm toward something. I see other kids losing control of a healthy lifestyle because they have no real incentive to do something physical. I look around at younger boys and girls who are looking for somewhere to belong and I want to help them.
Cheerleading became so much more to me than an extracurricular activity. It has furthered my resolve to become educated in a career that not only gives back to the community that helped me be successful but to also further the benefits of what the sport has taught me. I have chosen a career in nursing. I want to help further the knowledge that sports are part of a healthy lifestyle for kids and be able to share that with patients I encounter. I also help with a team of young children at Extreme Gymnastics volunteering my time for their prep team once a week to share my skills and enthusiasm hopefully encouraging children to become athletic and to get involved in positive activities.
Sports are an important part of an education. The lessons learned in being part of a team and being physically active cannot be learned solely in the classroom. The life lessons athletes learn are far too important and are essential in learning to enter the workforce and be productive. Being part of a team, sacrifice for the greater good, pushing through even on your worst day, making healthy choices, staying motivated, and time management are just a short list of thing sports reinforces.