Many young American girls dream of being a cheerleader or poms girl, but it is not all sunshine and roses. Every April, since I was 12 years old, was spent getting ready and then surviving a long week of auditions for a hobby that soon became a passion. When I was young, it started with ballet and tap classes, then moved into gymnastics and cheerleading. When I entered middle school, I discovered the joy of poms. There was nothing like the rush of performing for an energetic crowd at all of the home football and basketball games, or the thrill of competitions with the chance of reaching one of the top scores.
As time went on, I started to devote more and more time towards my passion. Soon enough, high school came. All summer long, I would go to practices and see the summer sun passing as we practiced and practiced, first preparing for poms camp, and then for our big competition of the year, otherwise considered, the Superbowl of poms. At competitions, all you could smell was hairspray, and there was glitter everywhere as girls applied their performance makeup. Many teams took these competitions so seriously that when they did not reach first place, you could see the visible disappointment in their and their coach's eyes. I had a different perspective.
When did poms have to become so serious? Why can’t we all just enjoy ourselves and support our fellow teams? By the end of sophomore year, I started to rethink all the hype that went along with poms and was reconsidering why so many girls devote the majority of their free time 11 months out of the year to such an activity. For some, it was the friends they made.
For others, it was the exhilaration of performing. For my sister and I, it was a bonding experience. It was an activity that we both started together in middle school and we continued for all those years. On the other hand, many girls started to have serious injuries due to the overuse of their body from too much time spent practicing.
For myself, I developed many different injuries over the course of my seven-year competitive poms career. First, I developed shin splints in middle school. Next came the tendonitis in my foot when I was 16. And last, and the longest lasting, was a snapped IT band that actually occurred back when I was 13 but was not discovered until I was 17. It is safe to say that as my last year of high school approached, although I enjoyed poms for many years, I could tell that I was beginning to need a new outlet for dancing.
This is when my sister and I truly discovered the beauty of Zumba. Not only is Zumba an excellent workout, it is a strong community like none other. We all support each other and it truly is a Zumba family. Zumba can quickly become an addiction as it does not feel like a workout, but more of a dance party. Zumba also provides great friends and networking opportunities. Trying Zumba back in my senior year was one of the best decisions that I have ever made. At this point, it has truly become a part of who I am. Today I can proudly say that I put down the poms, and picked up my Zumba sneakers.
