Give It Your All by Monica

Monicaof Carl Junction's entry into Varsity Tutor's February 2014 scholarship contest

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Monica of Carl Junction, MO
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Give It Your All by Monica - February 2014 Scholarship Essay

“Always try your hardest at something, because someone around you is looking up to you!” I first heard this quote during a difficult time in my life a few years ago. In the summer of 2010, I began to lose interest in going to competitive cheerleading practice. With the amount of time you have to put into cheerleading just for a practice began to depress me. I started to notice I have not been able to do anything else I love, such as hanging out with friends, because my life consisted of cheerleading. As someone who has always been passionate about the sport of cheerleading and has enjoyed years of competing, I was confused as to why I no longer seemed to get excited about it. I began to think to myself, do I want to still keep performing? I found that I was no longer trying my hardest during tumbling or stunting skill sessions and that I was only working hard enough to convince the coaches that I was making a genuine effort. Although frustrated by my own lack of enthusiasm, I continued on pretending to enjoy daily practices the way I used to.

Then one night, while looking up quotes for a class, I came across this one. The thought that others might be looking up to me had never crossed my mind. I did a lot of thinking that night, reflecting on the type of example I had been setting at practice every day, and I am happy to say that my attitude towards cheerleading completely changed. When I went to practice each day I gave every stunt, jump, and flip one-hundred percent of my effort, always remembering that someone there could be looking up to me.

After months of training, hard work, and dedication, competition season arrived. On the day of my first competition of the season, I got to the stage bright and early to watch our Tiny’s perform (our club’s youngest team consisting of 4-6 year olds). After they finished their performance and came down from the stage, one of the girls, Harli, came running up to me with a huge smile on her face. She gave me a hug and then said, “I am so glad you came to watch me perform. You are my ‘big cheerleader friend’. I love you and look up to you!” At this moment my heart sank and a tear began to run down my face. I began to realize, the quote that had gotten me through that rough summer was true; someone was watching me, looking up to me.
From that day on, nothing would prevent me from performing my best at every practice and competition. I would give it my all because, as the quote says, someone out there was looking up to me, and that someone was Harli.

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