Cheer Stole Me

While growing up, cheerleading was an identity of mine, and that's all I did and knew. As Guthrie mentions, a friend struggles to find what she wants to do and what she wants to be (46). I can relate to this as I was always busy with my sport and now struggle to find my identity, purpose, and the confidence that I once had. As I let go of the sport I have been doing for over a decade, it has been a struggle to decide what I want to do in this next chapter of mine. As numerous things come to mind, I question whether it's the right option for my future and is worth it.

An interesting note about me happened last year as I attended a cheer clinic, the venerable UGA cheer squad chose me to stunt with them. As a participant, I learned gymnastic and tumbling routines, cheers used for game days, and received an invitation to continue working with the cheer squad following the workshop. This clinic taught new terms and methods, and I also encountered some great new friends. Cheering in high school and competitively, have had an enormous impact on my life.

Lanie SalmonThere are many school activities that students enjoy however a lot of students, boys and girls pick cheer. Cheer has been around for a while now, and a lot of students try out every year. Students enjoy cheer because of the competitions, the games, and meeting new people.At competitions students can compete against one team or they can compete against ten teams. In competitions students perform whatever cheers or dances the team prepared. Usually before the competitions the coach or coaches will give the team a speech to help calm the nerves. One of the down factors about competitions is when the team loses then everyone on the team will start blaming the people who messed up for the loss of the team. One of the good factors

Ten years ago, if someone had told me that I would be a cheerleader at the collegiate level, I would most likely have laughed in their face. Now as I sit here getting ready for practice, I laugh thinking of how I entered the world of cheerleading. Going into my freshman year of high school, my mother told me I had to try out for cheerleading. So, naturally, I cried. There was no way I would be a cheerleader. But as they say, mothers know best. Growing up, I participated in every sport imaginable; gymnastics, basketball, track, lacrosse, and even golf. Changing activities often became familiar for me, as I would get bored quite easily. After I had made the decision to take up cheerleading full time, I felt like I was downgrading. I felt

Many events have helped me become who I am today by impacting my life greatly. However, cheer has had more of an impact on me than many other events that have taken place recently. Not only has it given me an opportunity to find passion and strength I was not aware I could possess; it gave me a group of people to be myself in, a safe haven. Without cheer, I would not be who I am this day.

A couple of months later competition season came and I was so nervous to go out there and perform in front of a lot of people. After the first

Cheerleading has also taught me never to give up. When I first joined rocket cheer in we were placing 10th at competitions. 10 years later down the road of hard work and determination we are placing top 3 every competition. So many people have wanted to give up but I've learned if you just give up on a goal or a dream then it will never be reached. So what if you have to work a little bit harder? The outcome is only better. I was proud to be a part of Rocket cheer when we were getting the tenth place and I'm proud to be a part of it when we get first. The journey only made me

First off, our performance, I was so scared, but right before we started playing I looked around praying my worries would go away, and I met someone’s eyes feeling reassurance flood over me when I realized this was my home, because

Many have seen her. Many know her. But who is the American cheerleader? Is she a blond haired, blue eyed sex symbol? Is she a drug-addicted girl with no brains and even fewer moral values? Maybe she is just your average, pretty, girl-next-door with a loud voice and lots of spirit. What is clearly true is that cheerleading and cheerleaders have evolved greatly over a century-long history. What started as one bold college student has turned into an activity with over 3 million participants (Brady 1); one that is backed by a $150 million industry (Williams 2). Modern cheerleading has come a long way from its historic roots, but large differences still exist between the iconic cheerleader, the stereotypical cheerleader, and the truth.

When people hear the word “cheer leading” they tend to think of a group of pretty girls frolicking around being peppy in short skirts and pom-poms while being optimistically spontaneous and enthusiastic without having to put in any effort toward a physical and mental state that challenges one’s ability. It never comes to mind, to question whether the fact competitive cheer leading is a sport. Being peppy is the common stereotypical outlook that has been put on cheer leaders. It can be seen as

Due to my failure to make All State, I recognized that I did not need the recognition, the big performance and the medal that is given out. What truly mattered was the improvement that I achieved as a musician. In those short summer months, I had polished my scales and sharpened my sight reading skills. I was ready for my next audition which propelled me to the second highest band in my high school band program, the Symphonic Band. Competition for this band is usually very high and I was quite proud to have achieved such an

I had prepared for this moment for six consecutive months, hours upon hours of practice. Every day I practiced the same musical

Again, tryouts came for the next greuling school year. The only difference from last year, I was prepared. I knew the cheers, I knew the feeling of standing in front of crowd so ecstatic from a winning game and I knew the feeling of a crowd sitting at a loss for words in the face of defeat. I knew my goal and I was absolutely determined to reach it. I could only be described as a lioness on the prowl and the Varsity squad was my prey. Just as anxious as the year before, though this time with a hint of confidence, I made my tryout a culmination of completely everything I had learned from my wildly experienced past. That night, I reached my ultimate goal and earned the prized name of Varsity cheerleader. The next day I practically walked around with an enormous V on my forehead, honored by the position. With all this positivity, I knew there was something to come. That same summer, I hadn’t received a lucky chance to become even a contender in the

Cheerleading has been extremely important to me. It has definitely impacted my life for the better. I have learned that nobody can change your desire and love for your passion. So many times my coaches or teammates doubted me, but I loved cheerleading so much and never gave up. I spent countless hours trying to improve my tumbling and skills. I went from the freshmen cheer team to the varsity cheer team my sophomore year. Nobody believed I could do it, but I was able to prove them wrong. I learned that it does not matter what negativity people throw at me, I mean so much more than that, and I should never give up.

The adrenaline, the overwhelming smell of hair spray, the white shoes and identical uniforms. This use to be everything I loved. Cheer use to be my world. I would wake up at 5:30 on school mornings and go to practice, then cheer games till 10 after school. I loved it all and I couldn’t imagine my world without it. The closeness of the team, the loud music, the tumbling, the stunts, it made me so happy. When my coach came along though, he crushed my dreams. He would call us fat, make us run extensively, call us rich kids and that we just use our ‘dad’s money’ to get through life, even though some of our parents got an extra job so we could cheer. It got to the point where I would dread practices, cry because of cheer, something I could never