Personal Narrative Analysis

When I was a child, I believed that my most important goal for my young life was to one day become a varsity cheerleader for my local high school. Nine years later, the day I became a varsity cheerleader, I made a promise to myself that I would never do anything to jeopardize my personal image or the image of my team because I knew that young cheerleaders were always looking to be just like the varsity cheerleaders, and also like myself. This aspiration of mine encouraged my volunteer involvement with the the local recreation department in my county that coordinates youth cheerleaders during each fall football season.

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.

Going to high school for the first time, I couldn’t decide if I should try out for the cheerleading team or wait a year. Since I had time and had been on the other squads, I decided “why not?” I had nothing to lose but a lot to gain. Tryouts were not as hard as I thought, but I just knew I had to be on the squads. The tryout consisted of learning the routine they made up. Making up your own routine, doing splits, and making a chant, Yet although these things were not that hard, I still was not sure whether I would make the team or not. The time came for the judges to make their decision on who made the squad. Totaling the votes, they handed the results to the coach. She gave her speech that all coaches give. E were all good, but only few could

Being a varsity cheerleader isn’t always fun. Its’ great to hang with the girls and cheer our team to victory, yet no one really sees behind the scenes. Anyone can be a cheerleader, but, not everyone can a great cheerleader. As every freshman never fails to display, there were countless times where I felt trapped within my body and encompassed in self doubt. It has always taken me longer than the rest to grasp a new routine or cheer. Took me about a full year to learn how to stunt and tumble. I’ve often felt that I was holding my team back from reaching its full potential by not being at the skill level that many mastered in their elementary gymnastics days. I found that drowning in my self pity only kept me at my current state: inadequate.

Competitive cheerleading is very demanding both physically but also mentally. Men and women have to pretty much put their life the hands of their team. When flyers on the team are being tossed into the air they have to trust their team to catch them and not drop them on their face. If hitting the ground wrong it could end your season in the sport or get security hurt. So people might say you could get hurt too bad you just have to get back up, brush it off, and start again. However like any fall it could be fatal it you hit the ground just right. Thank makes you think how many people do you know that you would be will to put your life in their hands. When competing at that level of cheerleading how could not call it a real sport. In Kettle

In 7th grade, I decided to try out for the cheerleading team. I don’t know whether I did this because it was the “popular” thing to do or because I wanted to follow in my sister’s footsteps. I also wanted to make friends and not just be labeled a “nerd”. I ended up making the team, surprisingly, as I had had no experience prior to try outs. If you are to know one thing about cheerleading even on the middle school level, it’s that it is very competitive and taken seriously. Therefore, lead us to perform extreme stunts and backflips to stand out in competitions. Me, being one of the smallest and lightest girls on the team, I was designated a flyer. This is the girl who they throw up in the air. This was terrifying at first, as I had never done

My favorite part of cheerleading has always been, and will always be, the stunting. In stunting, there is always a flyer and

In school, I am a cheerleader, specifically a flyer. I am continuously being lifted into the air, being tossed, and being caught. When I try newer or more advanced stunts, I will often lose my balance, and begin to fall. Every time that I begin to lose my footing, my teammates are right there beneath me to ensure that I don’t become injured. It is a vastly alarming feeling at times, but similar to a trust fall, my team has my back and catches me. This is as a symbol of life for me. While certain days are magnificent, other days are not. No matter what though, my family and friends are always by my side. There can be difficult or even daunting

Once the hour was up, I headed up the stairs to find my team gathered together and stretching. I sat and joined the clutter of cheerleaders to stretch myself as well so I don’t get hurt during my performance. Our coach finally showed up and ordered us to huddle up around her. “Close your eyes,” she demanded. We all new exactly what this meant. I obeyed her orders and listened for her to turn on our music for the routine. “Ding Ding. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5…” I started counting and imagining every step and motion I take in the routine we are about to perform. After the 2 minutes and 30 seconds was up, I opened my eyes, Stood up with the rest of the squad, and followed our coach down to the practice area. We waited for our turn to warm up stunts. After about 5 minutes, one of the staff members instructed us that it was our turn in the dead mat. We had 6 minutes on each floor: stunts, then tumbling, then the big floor which is where we mark and run through our entire routine. Once done with all of that, we walked over, panting, to the drinking fountain and filled our plastic cup we were given with water. I threw away my cup and walked over to my coach, still trying to catch my breathe. The others joined and she gave us a pep talk. We all bowed our heads to pray, then got in our walk-in lines. I looked at the girl next to me,” We got this. It will all hit if you just believe in yourself and everyone

Being in eighth grade, I let this get to my head completely. At first, I was devastated. I had a job as captain and main stunt group, and I felt I had failed not only myself but my team. After coming to the realization I only had one more competition left that year, I decided instead of letting that incident tear me down I would use it to motivate me and build me up. I wanted to end my Saint Katherine of Siena cheerleading career on a positive note.

My first two years of high school, I had made the JV girls soccer team. During this time, these girls grew to be more than teammates, they had become a second family to me. We all had spent a large amount of time together, growing closer and helping one another to develop as soccer players. I was very committed to becoming a stronger athlete. Girls soccer has always been a very competitive sport at my school, so tryouts can be very demanding. Despite my endeavors, there was an over abundance of talented incoming freshman who had tried out for the team. Even though my

I am proud to say that I am now a cheerleader for Sanford H. Calhoun High School. Throughout my years long attempt to make the cheerleading team, I had learned that failure is an inevitable aspect of life. I also learned that I have a strong sense of determination and will power. By setting goals, I am able to maneuver my way towards success, one step at a time. With an end goal in mind, I also have learned to enjoy the journey of life. Without the initial rejection, I would never have joined Platinum Athletic and made some of my closest friends, an experience I am grateful for. My determination to succeed is an integral aspect of my personality, and I take pride in both my failures and

It was March 2017, and the tryout cheers had just been put on Moodle. I had already been practicing my tumbling skills at Corner House for about five months, but I still wasn’t confident with my skills. We had cheer camp for the next week to go over the cheers and how the tryout process was going to go. During the week I had gotten pretty good at the cheers but I lost my running tumbling from being so nervous. This made me so scared for tryouts and I thought for sure I wasn’t going to make the team, especially compared to other girls who had outstanding tumbling skills. I knew that now I couldn't rely on my tumbling to get me on the team so I focused on my jumps and cheers.

For most people cheerleading is easy, but it's actually hard. It takes a lot of hard work and determination. As you might have already figured out I am on the Cheer Team. There are twelve girls on the team this year, which is one more than last year. It’s almost like we hunted someone down and made them join the team as if we were Darth Vader. In cheer there are different titles. They are Base, Flyer, Backspot, and front spot(if needed). I am a back spot. When I backspot my feet are planted on the sweaty mat, my hands are grasped around the little ankle of my flyer, and I listened for the counts to begin. When I backspot, I feel free. I feel happy. I feel so happy that I could stretch my face to where it's double the width. I don't know what would happen to me if I was anything else besides a backspot. Would I still be the same?

Ever since I was four years old, I've done all star cheerleading,a very competitive sport. Ever since I started doing it, I knew why I wanted to. I did Cheerleading at a gym called Cheer Extreme Chicago located in Addison, IL. I was on a junior 5 team called Obsession. The day we started practicing, we prepared for one competition. The competition is called NCA (National Cheerleading Association). NCA is located in Dallas, TX. There are 1,143 teams, 25,484 athletes, 38,000 spectators, 41 states, and five countries. After the nine months passed, it finally came.