Ever since I can remember I have had a strong passion for being a performer. Whether it was a dance, cheer, tap, jazz, hip hop, tumbling, stunting, or even musical theater class, I have always been involved with some sort of activity that has had to do with performing. Now that senior year is here and my cheerleading career is coming to an end, I can really see now that cheerleading was my life. I don’t know what I would have done if it wasn’t for cheer. Being on a team pushed me into making friends that somehow turned into my family. It’s a way of expressing myself in the best way possible. Cheerleading is what I’ve always done and I feel like if I wasn’t a part of cheerleading, I wouldn’t be the person I am today.

Junior year I made a big decision to quit my competitive cheerleading team and try out for the school team. As hard as it was to leave my team that I had been with for almost 9 years, I was getting older and I wanted to be involved with a team that didn’t take up as much of my time. Being on a competitive team meant practices every day, including weekends, that could last up to 8 hours. When we weren’t practicing we were traveling to compete. There was never any time for friends, family, or homework. I wanted to be involved with cheerleading, but I needed some room to breathe.

Tryouts for the school team seemed to be a breeze, and before I knew it, I had made all new friends. For my junior and senior year I was set on keeping my grades up and working hard to become captain of my cheerleading team. Being captain of a school’s cheerleading team was a huge responsibility. So much pressure and guidance is needed in order to act as a leader to my team. To me, being a captain my senior year was everything that I wanted and more. But, I quickly learned that one bad decision of mine could lead to a setback in reaching my goal or worse.

It was a normal weekend in October. My friends and I thought it’d be fun to throw a little party at my friend Lindsey’s house. Being on cheer, meant that at no time was I allowed to be at a party of any kind or consuming alcohol. I had never heard of someone getting caught and in trouble for this, so at the time I figured that no one really took this rule seriously. All I wanted to do was have fun. As the night began and I drank few drinks, I didn’t have a care in the world. That feeling went away fast when a few hours later we heard a big bang at the front door. The loud music faded away as everyone stopped to hear who was at the door. We heard, “Pasco police, everyone get on your hands and knees!” I was in utter shock.

The neighbors had filed a complaint for noise and the cops had come to shut down our party. The cops had everyone lined up on the wall and was asking for our I.D’s. I can remember my heart beating so fast that I thought it was going to explode out of my chest. Being brought home by the cops was the scariest thing I have ever experienced. Especially when they had to wake up my parents.

Getting in trouble with my parents was the least of my worries because that night, when I finally got to my bed, all I could think about was cheerleading. I didn’t know if my coach would find out or if she already knew somehow. Monday at school, everyone was talking about what happened. By third period I was called down to the athletic director’s office to talk about it. The police contacted the school when they found out that we were all CHS students. I knew I was in trouble and I begged to not be kicked off cheer. Tears were pouring down my face and I could feel knots in the bottom of my stomach.

Luck was on my side when I was told that I was only getting suspended off the cheer team for a few weeks. It was awful not being able to cheer with my team for most of November, but I guess it was better than being kicked off all together.

I felt so much guilt from letting my team down. I needed to be a leader and set the example for them, but I did the exact opposite. I did everything I could to make it up to the team, and my coach. I suffered minor consequences and worked hard after my suspension to set a good example.

Football season was about mid season and I didn’t get the captain position. I was crushed, but I also knew that if I would have made better decisions during football season, I would have had a much better shot at being football captain. As the next few months went by I worked extra hard. I wanted to be named captain for basketball season more than anything and eventually, all my hard work paid off. The team voted and I finally got my captain position and was happier than ever.

Some may say that I didn’t deserve the captain position that I received, but overall, I spent years working for that position. Yes, I made a mistake and broke a rule, but I suffered the consequences, learned a lesson, and worked hard to get where I am today.