One of the hardest things in life is moving on. Moving on from something so ingrained in your life that it's woven into every fiber of your personality. Moving on from something that gave you so many beautiful memories and introduced you so many people. I met some of my best friends through cheerleading, learned some of the hardest lessons, accomplished some of my greatest feats. Cheerleading molded me into the strong, independent, hard-working woman I am today, and I am so incredibly grateful.

I don't think I will ever forget my last competition. I’ll never forget the tears and the laughter and the energy. Never have I felt so connected to a group of people in my life. My team was my family, those girls were my sisters, my best friends. We had gone through countless up and downs, numerous loses and victories, big and small. The most grueling season of my life was ending. The largest chapter in my life was ending.

As we stood there in a circle, arms around each other, weakly singing "Lean on Me" with tears streaming down our faces, memories flooded back. Memories of every competition, every practice, every game, every moment I shared with these ladies and every teammate I had worked with before.

I literally could not stop crying. every time I made eye contact with one of the girls, some of whom I considered best friends, some of whom I had cheered with my entire life, some of whom I had only met a few months ago. I was a f***ing mess.

I'll never forget that day, but despite how heartbroken I was, I couldn't ignore the feeling of relief that accompanied it. I had been cheerleading basically my entire life, I couldn't imagine a future without it. Sure, I loved the sport with all my heart, I loved my team. I loved the competition and the energy and the experience. But I was ready for something new. I was ready to move on.

And I am so thankful I did. I'm always going to be a cheerleader, just like I'm always going to be a New Yorker and I'm always going to be a Pizzemento. No matter what I do in the future, those things will always be a part of me. Cheerleading has made me who I am today, it taught me incredibly valuable skills I doubt I could have learned anywhere else. Cheerleading kept me sane, drove me crazy, made me feel confident, made me feel like I needed to improve, made me laugh, made me cry. That sport was my life.

But, that isn't the case anymore. I've moved on to bigger and better things. I got everything I needed out of it, there was nothing left for me to learn. It's time for me to try new things, learn new lessons, and I couldn't be more excited.

So, thank you, cheerleading. Thank you, ladies. Thank you to my coaches. Thank you the cheer moms and dads. Thank you to the judges and the spectators. Thank you to my mom and dad. Thank you to my family and friends. Without all of you, I have no idea where I'd be.

Thank you.