Cheerleading and my life by Theresa

Cheerleading and my life by Theresa - December 2013 Scholarship Essay

An extracurricular activity that I participated in high school that impacted me the most was cheerleading. Sophomore year I was a part of the varsity football squad and varsity all-star prep level 3 competition squad. My personality was very quiet and shy. I didn't know that many people in the school and I wasn't involved in anything else. I decided to join high school cheerleading because I wanted to experience high school cheer. Previously I cheered for a recreation team and an all-star team. In my mind I though high school cheer was going to be a piece of cake and was going to not be that serious. I was proved wrong at the first practice. Conditioning was intense sometimes to the point where it was as intense as all-stars. The coach took her team seriously to crisp sharp motions and synchronization. High school cheer was more then something to put on applications. It was the best experience of my high school life. Not only did I get to make new friendships but I also created everlasting memories. Pep rallies, gym decorating, and locker sign are all things that were so much fun and with being a cheerleader came the responsibility to do all these things. I also learned about my passion for cheerleading and football games. I never knew what the big deal was about Friday night football games. Everyone went and cheered on the team while I stayed at home watching movies. The experience was amazing. I loved pumping up the crowds and cheering for the football players whether it be cheering for them when they ran out onto the field or when they lost a big game. Cheerleading made me come out of my comfort zone. I became more confident in myself and was not afraid to be loud. During the summer I got to help little kids learn the basics. Itself good to help the community and others learn about what I'm passionate about. The football team almost made it to states but was one win away. I was fine with that and I loved every game along the way.

After football season was over there was competition season. With this team there was mandatory tumbling. Tumbling taught me to persevere and never give up. Getting tumbling takes a while and something that you have to practice and practice. "Perfection before progression!" was the motto. With competition routines also comes stunting. Stunting teaches teamwork, trust and how to bond with your group. Every person in a stunt is important and needed. Without any person in the stunt or if the group doesn't work together the stunt will crumble and fall and not work. Teamwork is the biggest thing I was taught. When one person does something wrong it affects the whole team. If one person messes up in a routine the team's whole score is affected. That can mean going from first to last place in a heartbeat. Teamwork also goes along with synchronization. Everyone on the team needs to be on count and know what they are doing. At the end of the season we had one first place regional win and a second place national champion title. I was so thankful for the whole season. Not only did I grow in my cheerleading abilities but also my personality grew. This was the pinnacle of my high school experience.

Not only does the cheerleading do all of these things but they also support childhood cancer. It was a great experience to experience my first minithon at my school. We performed and it was so exciting. It was nice to know that we were performing to help raise money for a good cause.