Personal Narrative Personal Experience

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

I felt my heart racing, heard my name being called, and suddenly, anxiety turned into elation. Within moments, I was walking across the international stage in Orlando in front of 16,000 people. I had won 5th at DECA Internationals!

It was a Friday evening; our team gathered before the competition started in a couple of minutes. We all gave “good lucks” to one another and off we were to the competition. After what seemed like days, it was time for the award ceremony. We are able to see our

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.

I was overjoyed, because we had beaten them and had won the national title. So I thought, when the girl came sprinting back, she did not have the ribbon in her hand. That should have automatically disqualified them, but the judges gave them a rerun, at the time Denton was out of the building and had not seen any of this. So as we waited for them to bring their calf back, I was so over the edge again. When they finally got the calf back the team went and was a 9, and beat us. Denton was so mad that he went and talk to the judges, but they were assholes and did not disqualify them like they should have. So that put us in second place in the short go. Then since they were ahead of us in the average and in points, that put them winning the world and the average. Even though we got reserve in the average and the world. I was very pleased with what happened and so appreciative for doing as good as we did. I came home with four buckles and a set of spiffy spurs. Even when Denton was still very annoyed about it, I was very

Being girls of the ages fourteen to eighteen we did not know how to react. We have never in our life went to school and heard all these headlines about how the program we worked so hard to build is not going to make it in our county. Knowing we had no support from anyone besides our coaches and families led us to constantly being down. We were continuously mocked of from higher ranked teams, even if we won a game. All that proceeded in our heads were that how can people think so small of a group of teenage girls. No one wanted to be last in our division anymore, but we didn't have faith in ourselves as a result of no one having confidence in us.

The whole experience exceeded my expectations by far. I was just happy that we made it that far yet alone won. So far in my life, it was the most exciting/scariest moment I have ever been

Everyone was so happy that we won the championship because my team has not won in 10 years it seems like forever. The crowd was cheering so much for us. I was so happy that I have tried my best all the time and that it is ok to make mistakes. We make them all of the time even if we do not notice

As the weekend went on, there were many highs and lows for us. We ended up coming out ahead in our last game against a team from Duluth, MN and winning U18 Minnesota State Playdowns. Overall our team completed this competition undefeated with a 4-0 record under our belts. Winning this competition meant that we would be traveling to Cedarburg, WI for the U18 Nationals a month and a half

I felt like I could do anything. The moment was extremely surreal. I hadn’t accomplished anything so arduous in my life. The crowd’s cheers were thundering through my body. I had so much adrenaline coursing through my veins that I wasn’t even weary. People were jumping up and down, screaming in victory, and clapping so loud I couldn’t hear myself think. I couldn’t believe that I had just won the State Championship volleyball game.

The team was ready, we had been working extremely hard for the past seven months for this. We were all in great shape and very rested. A few of the returning players were meeting me at my house to carpool to the final game of the state championship tournament. Everyone knew that the hard work had paid off when we won the semi-final game the preceding day.

It’s our turn to perform and everyone is going insane. “Girls, you can do this” Coach Angie said as we walked onto the main stage. Everyone lines up, single file and waits for the judges to announce us. Our hearts were beating anxiously as the announcer said “North Boone Vikings, you may take the floor.” As we started to perform our routine, I noticed that all of the stunts were hitting. “Thank gosh” I thought as I continue to walk to the dance part of our routine. I'm thinking in my head “5, 6, 7, 8, 1, 2 GO!” Everybody starts to dance, but my biggest fear happened. My entire cheer squad stood looking at the judges like a deer in headlights. We forgot our routine!

There I was standing behind the curtains with little beads of sweat rolling down my head slowly. I was really nervous, waiting for my name to be called. I could hear my heartbeat. Dun dun, dun dun, dun dun went my heart. I tried to remember my dance, but all of the sudden my mind went blank. All I could think of was the hundreds of people in the audience and the panel of judges. Then boom, I finally heard it, “Introducing for the Keiki Kane Auana division, under the direction of Kumu Hula Kale Pawai of Napua Maikalani, Darren Wade Maluyo Jr.” The curtains opened, and I walked on to the stage.

As the performance ended, the reality of what I was losing became very clear to me. I said my last line, stood in my last position, and bowed together with the wonderful cast I got to share my journey with. The lights dimmed, the music played in conclusion, and the curtains closed slowly, signifying the end of a star performance. Once the black curtains hit each other, in a final round of applause, the cast scattered in joy towards the meet and greet. All the while, hugs and congratulations were dealt out like a hand of cards.

Because every team was finished and left the mat, anxiety and curiosity were building up in everyone. Soon, everyone sat down, waiting to see what team placed where. Unfortunately for some teams they didn’t get placed (top 13 or so). After being relieved that we actually have a chance of scoring high, we waited for the Eureka Hornets to be called. It was getting down to the top 3 and our team had not yet been announced. As our whole team was bubbling with excitement, we knew that no matter what place we got, we would be the winners in our own minds.3rd place, not Eureka. 2nd place, not Eureka. “The state champions of the IESA cheerleading competition is… EUREKA MIDDLE SCHOOL!” Jumping up, crying with joy, hugging our fellow teammates, was the best feeling in the world.