Cheerleading has been a huge part of my life for as long as I can remember. I began sideline cheerleading for my town's youth football team when I was about 12 years old. I would be lying if I said I instantly fell in love with the sport; I was a slow learner and practice was often strenuous and stressful. I was also petrified of heights, and being the smallest girl on my team, I was instantly made a flyer. However, my coaches saw my potential and pushed me to my limits.
As I grew older, I became more and more involved with cheerleading. I joined one of the most well-known cheer gyms in Rhode Island. At my team's first competition, we won first place, and it was also my first time ever receiving a first place title. This was a giant confidence boost for me, and motivated me to better myself and take on more. I made the varsity team my freshman year of high school, as well as each year after that. Within these four years, cheerleading became my life.
I will never forget the day of the state competition, my senior year. States is the day we work our asses off for every year. The previous year, we had won division runner-ups, therefore, we had standards to meet, and hopefully exceed. I considered this day one of the most important days of my high school career, and of course, I came down with a stomach virus the night before. However, I had refused to let this stop me. I had worked far too long and hard to just let myself and my team down. Being the center flyer, my presence in that routine was beyond necessary. The entire night before, morning of, and bus ride to the competition, my face was in a bucket. However, when we had arrived, and up until the time were about to take the mat, I felt much better. I remember standing there, at the edge of the mat, and feeling the hands of the girls on each side me interlock with my own. We waited there anxiously to be told that we could "take the mat." I could hear and see the screaming fans all around me, and I thought to myself, "I can do this. I can make it through this, just one last time." We began the routine and everything was hitting perfectly, when suddenly, towards the end, I began to gag. It was then, that I could taste the vomit in my mouth. I tried my hardest to hold it in and continued for as long as I could, until about the last 8 count. I ran as fast as possible, and just barely made it to the edge of the mat in time. In that moment, I had never been more upset in my life. My team ran over to me as soon as they had finished. I had one girl bringing me a trash can, one was holding my hair, another girl was pulling off my shell, and another was getting ice because I was burning up. All of them, however, were telling me how proud they truly were of me. I will never forget the words of my coaches and teammates. Though, I was disappointed in myself because I thought I had let them down, they assured me that what I had done took an extreme amount of dedication. I persevered and had given it my all in a time when I hardly had it in me. Cheerleading has taught me so many valuable lessons, especially during that one day itself. For that, I will always remember and be grateful for this experience.
