Personal Narrative: Cheerleading

Deep breaths… Okay- you got this. It’s just you and the vault. Nothing else matters. You have done this a million times before. Nick always here to catch me if I fall. Muscle memory takes over. When I am in the right mental state, anything seems possible. Any athlete would agree with me. All sports are half mental. AS I run down the runway, I know why I am a gymnast. Every bounding step I take I run farther and farther from everything happening in my life. Farther and farther from all the distractions. I can only hear my feet pounding into the springboard. Flying off the vault with a power I don’t even know I contain, everything zapped into slow motion. This is what it all comes down to. Every minute of training in the gym. Every wrist and

There I was up in the air. There I was standing up on two girls hands’ high in the air with my back spot holding me tight as the crowd stared in aw. I was in a huge building, looking down at a blue mat. One mistake and I fall hard to the ground, and disappoint everyone around. I was sweating like a pig, I felt a drop of sweat hit my neck as I went on. I ran in fear, jumped nervously, all while I tried my hardest, but will it be enough…

Hi, I am Arabella, a junior in high school and a varsity cheerleader at Siesta Key High School. I am four feet and eight inches tall and a flyer on the cheer team. I often dress like a nerd, and do not care what other people think. I am dating the star football player at SKHS his name is Tom. Tom was not only a star football player, but he is also very good at soccer, basketball, baseball and volleyball. He is a liar and a cheater too. Anyways, people just call me Bella. I love sports and love spending my days off at the beach. I especially love Major League Baseball; Tampa Bay Devil Rays is my favorite team. I am a happy person most of the time. Who’s dedicated to my cheerleading career; and I want to get a scholarship for Northwestern

I waited weary in anticipation of what name would break out of the happy-go-lucky collegiate cheerleader’s boisterous mouth as he was announcing the two lucky 2017 National Cheerleading Association All Americans out of all 4 Belton cheer squads. I replay this moment in my most vivid dreams, feeling the excitement of the halcyon moment grow greater and greater as the nerves and emotions grew stronger and stronger. A moment as imperative as this showed me in the most transparent way that hard, continuous work and growth pays off in many more ways than one.

When I was in 3rd grade I begged my mom to sign me up for cheerleading. I had always pictured myself on the sideline of a football game. Except, that wasn't exactly what I signed up for. Actually, it wasn't even close My mom signed me up for a team named Rocket Cheer. A team that did not cheer on the sidelines at football games but instead competed in competitions nationwide throughout the whole year.This has been more than just a sport to me. Rocket Cheer has taught me commitment as well as time management, the true meaning of family, how to not give up on any goal, and taught me to be me.

I have told a few little white lies through my lifetime. One that I can remember happened back in elementary school. I started doing competitive cheerleading back when I was about 6 years old and continued to do it until I graduated from high school. When I was in 4th or 5th grade I remember telling my friends I knew how to do a back flip. Everybody believed me and wanted to see me do one during recess and I was scared because I just started to learn how to do one so I did not have it perfected yet. When they asked me to do one I always came up with an excuse. One day I decided I was not going to come up with excuses anymore and just do it. During recess I remember everybody coming over to me and asking me when I was going to do it so I decided

We spend 720 minutes, 12 hours, and 6 days a week mentally and physically preparing for a 2 minutes and 30 second routine. Our talent becomes unbeatable, and we as a team become unstoppable. The countless hours, hundreds upon hundreds of repetitions, blood, sweat, and tears all become worth it.

We all have at least one memory that will just stay with us forever. To some people this memory may be good, bad, or even possibly funny.

Well, this is my first post and to be completely honest it took me a while to figure out what I wanted to write, but I finally came to a conclusion.

“Hmm, I’ve never thought about cheerleading.” I thought. Shaking me from my thoughts, she asked me again “Hello? Earth to Shakira? Are you going to try out because Tee-Tee, Te’kiayah, Danielle, Kai, and a few others said they were.” “Uh, yeah I guess so. Where and who do I get the paperwork from?” I asked questioningly. “Some lady named Mrs. Garcia on Echo Company on the 7th grade hallway.” She said. At the end of the day, I asked Mrs. Braun if I could go down to Mrs. Garcia’s room to get a cheerleading form and a physical sheet. “Alright, I already have this set to mind, all I can hope now is that I can get Momma and Daddy to hop onboard with” I thought.

All I could pay attention to were the Doctor’s socks, sticking out from under his trousers. They had little sushis on them. I half-listened to his words- they sounded garbled like they would underwater. After a failed physical therapy program and a disappointing first doctor's’ appointment I prepared myself for the worst. After all, Osteochondritis Dissecans doesn’t exactly sound optimistic. My hearing finally came back to focus at the words “I can fix your arm. You can do gymnastics again.” I study the doctor. He isn’t tall, he has graying hair and sushi socks. His voice is encapturing - very clear and matter o fact. “ I can fix your elbow. You can do gymnastics again. It is not going to be easy to come back. But I can do it.”

Everyone is unique and wants to find where they can fit in and excel. For me, it was a bit challenging. Growing up, I never had a “thing”, like everyone else. I had friends that were great singers, dancers, athletes, actors, artists, and everything else in the book. But I didn’t have a specific talent that made me special, so I set out to find one. In the eighth grade I joined every club I could find to see where I thrive. I enjoyed myself in each activity, but I still didn’t find a talent.

Trying out for cheering is scary enough but trying out for cheering with a cast is even scarier. It was the scariest thing I have ever had to do. It was the scariest thing I’ve ever had to do because I never had a broken bone and I never had to do

My first day in cheerleading was stressful, because I felt afraid but I was happy because I was making part of a new team. I always wanted to be a cheerleader. My trainer introduced me to all the teammates and he said that I was going to be the new flyer so I got really excited because that sounded really cool and I felt like I was going to experience lots of adrenaline and that’s what I like, my trainer and teammates helped me in everything and throughout the weeks I learned very well and

“Let’s go blue and gold!” yelled the crowd. It was the last football game of the season. Cheerleaders and football players were hyped about the game. Their school has been celebrating this game all week. The game will be at four o’clock; be ready to have fun.