Royals 7

The most important leadership experience that have gone through in my high school years would be being cheer captain! Trying out for cheer my freshman year with no experience was nerve-wracking. I spent a lot of hours practicing basic skills in my backyard due to Covid-19. When receiving the call that I had earned a spot on the Varsity cheer team, I knew this was a new chapter of my life just waiting to get started. I have had so many wonderful experiences being on this team like being involved in the community, being honored cheer captain, and gaining personal skills for the future!

During this current school year, I was honored with the title of cheer captain! This title gives me many responsibilities when it comes to the team, myself, and my coaches. Me and my coaches meet at the end of each practice and discuss what needs to be worked on, and what decisions need to be made. I, myself have to create certain routines for the squad, while also juggling work and my school work. Over time I learned how to balance all my extracurriculars and my school, along with a social life. I have always told myself that I am a student before I am any athlete! This mindset helped me get through some rough spots in my academic career as well. While being captain, I grew a lot closer with my team than I have any previous year being a cheerleader. I tried to hold as many team bonding events as possible! I learned that is is crucial to have a team that enjoys each others company when you spend as mich time together as we do. I made it a job of mine to make sure the team felt comfortable and trusted one another. On the physical side of things, letting someone pick you up and put you in the air is not easy. It takes a lot of trust and chemistry to make sure everyone is on the same page. There is also a friendship side that comes with our team. All of our girls have met, if not already had so many friends to hangout with on the sideline this past year!

Being involved in the community has been one of my favorite parts of being on the varsity cheer squad. While working with kids after school, and interning at the local elementary school, I also love teaching them cheerleading! At my high school, we have a graduation requirement called the “Senior Project”. This project must include a cause and a minimum of 16 hours of pursuing your project. For my senior project, I held a mini cheerleading clinic for 200 elementary schoolers in our district! I raised around five thousand dollars and donated it all to the high school cheer team to help pay for things like summer camp, new uniforms, and anything that a student can’t pay for on their own. This was one of the biggest events of my senior year. It was such a learning experience and made me closer to my community!

Lastly, being a leader on the cheer team has not only taught me leadership, but also responsibility, confidence, determination, and strength. Being a leader on the team is such an honor. I got to welcome all of our underclassmen and rookie cheerleaders with open arms. My goal was to make sure every single cheerleader felt welcome and comfortable when coming onto the team. Responsibility was demonstrated when I had to opportunity to make an entire routine to perform in front of the entire school. I had many months to work on it and I knew that if I didn’t want to disappoint my coaches and team, it needed to be good! I gained a lot of confidence throughout the past 4 years. You truly have to train your voice and body to yell throughout a four-quarter basketball and football game! I learned my role as a base in a stunt group as well. Being a base meant that I was in charge of putting my flyer into the air safely. Determination and strength go hand in hand when talking about cheerleading. There have been many practices where my mental strength and determination were tested. These practices only made me a better student and athlete in the end.

I owe a lot to the varsity cheer team at our school! I would have never gotten the grades I did, had the same friends, or made the connections I have outside of this team without it. As I will not be cheering past the high school level, I am so glad I started and ending my cheerleading chapter with a positive out come. I am so blessed to receive the opportunity in the first place! Being a cheerleader has mended me into the student leader I am today.