After being on a competitive cheerleading team for six years, my best friend convinced me to join our high school team my junior year. Going into this I knew that the skill level was going to be very different compared to a competitive team, but I thought that being involved in something I loved would make going to school more enjoyable.

Man, was I wrong.

High school cheerleaders in movies are consistently portrayed as being that popular group of girls who live for attention and all secretly hate each other. Because I grew up on a competitive team, I was thankful to never have experienced this and have always taken the sport very seriously. Seeing that my school's cheer team was never viewed as an exclusive clique or even considered popular, I pushed the stereotype out of my head.

After making Varsity and practicing with them all summer, I quickly learned that the other girls on the team didn't have as big of an appreciation to the sport as I did. My friend and I, plus a couple other girls, noticed the undependable work ethic and how this was a shift from past years. Once football season hit, we saw that their biggest priority was when they were going to wear their uniform to school and which football player was going to thank them for making them a locker sign.

Being in this crowd, as I never was before, gave me a whole new perspective on high school. The pettiness and drama between some of the girls was there just like the movies say. It made me realize that no matter how good of an attitude you think you have, high school is high school.

I learned that no one cares if you're wearing a cheerleading skirt or are on the side lines with pom-poms, and the football players don't care if you bake them cookies before every single game. What got me so far on my competitive team was my dedication and drive to always be better, which was something that a majority of these girls did not understand.

I also learned that the girl who was labeled "cheer captain" and thought she had this dictator-like power over everyone else was going to have a rude awakening when she got into the real world.

After having coaches who did not push me or the team anywhere near our full potential, I learned that having poor leadership can make or break a team of any sort. This high school team that had actually gone to state two years prior, had changed so dramatically once negative leadership was implemented. Having that one coach that you didn't quite get along with can make you form a kind of resentment towards the sport that you never had before.

I did make some meaningful bonds with several girls on the team and for the most part, they shared the same frustrations as I did. If it hadn't been for those girls who encouraged me all season, I don't know how I would've gotten through my junior year.

I don't want to put all high school cheer teams in a bad light, as there are some very talented schools out there. When watching these school's routines it was obvious that they put in a lot of time and work to get to where they are. I cheered with a few very talented girls, but we were just unfortunate to not have the team chemistry needed to win.

Being on that team really made me appreciate all the hard work my competitive coach put me through, and of course, I am now back on that team. I truly think that being a part of something so demanding and well respected made me a better person and all it took was one discouraging season to realize that.

Although you can't change the natural balance of high school, don't lose sight of your passions and true friends because that will get you farther than you think.