Living Picture Narrative

When I was four years old, my mom signed me up for the local youth cheer team that

participated in competitions, and cheering for the youth football team. Being so young, I went

along with it. I do not remember much from the first couple of years, but I do know that I made a

lot of good friends, and liked it enough to keep signing up year after year.

In cheerleading, we stunt. Stunting is when three people (the bases and back spot) hold

another person (the top girl) above them in the air. Young kids are not afraid of a lot, so we did

not have any problem doing this. I was as small as a stick, so I was always the top girl. I was

never nervous about going in the air, I actually loved it. It gave me a feeling like nothing else

ever did. The only stunt that I was ever nervous about were basket tosses, in which the bases and

back spot completely let go, sending the top girl flying through the air. As scary as it may have

been, I continued to work hard and get better at them, so that it would start to feel more natural to

me. Eventually it did, and I was able to do even more difficult stunts.

The adrenaline flooded my veins as I flew through the air, worrying that the people below
me would not catch me when I came down.
Picture taken by Kelly Little
 I would not have been able to do these difficult stunts, or go through the cheer experience

without the amazing friends that I made in youth cheer. The only problem was that all of the

friends that I made were a year older than me. When I was in seventh grade, they were in eighth

grade, ready to move onto high school, leave youth cheer, and try out for the Mira Mesa High

School cheer team. When the time came for them to leave, I was very upset that I was going to

move to a team that had been working with each other for years, and I was not close to many of

them. I was also nervous because I had my growth spurt right before my eighth grade cheer

season began, which meant that I would not be able to be a top girl anymore. Leaving the friends

that I cheered with for so long, and moving to a new position was scary to me. It made me feel

like I wanted to take the year off of cheer instead of continuing. I knew I still wanted to cheer

after this year long break, but I thought that I needed to take some time off, give my body a

chance to rest, and come back to cheering when I tried out for the high school team. After a lot of

thinking about it, and talking to my parents and some of my older cheer friends about it, I

realized that I loved the sport too much to walk away from it, even for a year. Choosing to

continue cheer that year ended up being very beneficial to me. I always wonder: what might have

been different if I had taken that year off in eighth grade? I probably would not have gone back

to try out for the high school cheer team.

Good luck on your first day of try outs, youre going to do great, my mom yelled as my

friend and I got out of the car and stepped into the Mira Mesa High School campus. The nerves

began to kick in and I became very anxious about what we were about to walk into. The first

thing we saw were seven mats covering the room, girls spread throughout the room, some

stretching, some talking, and some standing nervously by themselves. The feeling in the air was

a combination of confidence and fear.

 Try outs lasted for two weeks, and over time, my feelings of confidence grew stronger as

I knew the material better; however, my fear grew too, because I did not think I was good

enough to make the team. After two long, painful, and exhausting weeks of try outs, I stood

outside of the office building, waiting for Mr. J (the cheer coach) to put up the list of who made

the team. Staring at the window for even one minute felt like we were waiting for five hours.

Suddenly, we see a figure in the window, taping a sheet of paper onto the window. Everyone ran

over to it, and franticly searched for their name on the list. As some girls walked away

disappointed, I pushed myself to the front, so that I could find my name. Looking down the list, I

finally got to last name L. I see Jacklyn Little written in the middle of thirty other names.

My dreams had come true. I was a Mira Mesa High School cheerleader!

The intensity of high school cheer was a lot greater than it was for youth cheer. My

freshman year consisted of learning many new skills, improving the ones that I already had, and

trying to make it onto the competition team. The competition team is a smaller group of the best

cheerleaders chosen from the whole team. This team competes at regionals, nationals, and any

other competitions we do, while the other girls watch and support the team. A requirement to be

on the competition team was to have a round-off back handspring, and a standing back-

handspring. I had the ability to do both of those, and I was improving greatly as a base.

Unfortunately, the seniors, and everyone else who had already been on the team had filled all of

the positions needed for the competition team. My coach, Mr. J said to me, Jacklyn, you will not

be in a stunt group on the competition team this year, but we need your tumbling skills. So, in the

routine you are going to be tumbling, doing signs during the cheer, and helping during the

pyramid. I thought about it, and as much as I did want to be a complete part of the team, I
would take what I could get. It is unusual for freshman to get any spot on the competition team at

all, so I felt very blessed.

After the regional competition, the coaches told me that they were changing to a smaller

division, so I would not be able to be on the competition team anymore. At first I was

disappointed in myself. Then, I decided to take it as an opportunity to work harder and make sure

I would be a part of the competition team next year.

The Mira Mesa High School cheer team freshman pose on the football field after a long day
of practices.
Picture taken by Tom Jensen

Thankfully, my hard work paid off, and I was chosen to be a part of the competition team

my sophomore year! I was so proud of myself for not giving up, and for making myself better for

the team. In Florida for nationals that year, it was an experience I will never forget, being on the

mats in the Jostens Center at the ESPN Zone for the first time. The arena was filled with

cheerleaders. The smell of hairspray ran through my nose. The sound of cheers being yelled, and
music playing filled my ears. I was filled with adrenaline and excitement. Although we did not

get very far in the competition, because our tumbling was not strong compared to most teams, I

will always remember my first time performing there with my team.

Since tumbling was our weak point, we switched to a non-tumbling division my junior

year, so that we could focus more on our stunting abilities, and maybe win nationals. Winning

nationals had always been our dream, but we never came close to it while we were in the

tumbling division. After all of our hard work throughout the year, it finally came time to go to

Florida for nationals. During the preliminary round, we hit our routine with a few mistakes.

Anxiously, we waited for the announcers to call our name, saying that we moved onto the semi-

finals. Suddenly we heard Mira Mesa High School, and we jumped out of our seats, hugged

each other, and cried. We hit a solid routine during semi-finals, and moved onto the final round,

which we had not done in years. Performing during finals was a feeling I cannot describe. The

nerves and adrenaline combined, and in the blink of an eye, the routine was done, and we hit all

of our stunts better than we ever had. It was one of the best feelings I ever experienced.

After hitting such a solid routine, it was time to go to awards. To prepare for awards,

twelve teams line up in a U shape along the mat. Looking around, everyone tried to make

jokes, and take each others minds off of the anxiety we had while waiting for the results to be

called. I thought to myself I do not even care if we make top ten, I am just so happy to have

made it this far! They announced the twelfth, eleventh, and tenth place, and they did not call out

our team. I cannot believe we made top ten, I thought. By the time they announced fifth place,

our team still has not been called. Astonished, I thought, Is this really happening? Have we

placed top five at the biggest high school cheer competition?

 They announced up to third place, and still, no sign of Mira Mesa High School being

called. We made it in the top three. I cannot contain my excitement much longer, I thought to

myself. The announcer said, Third place. And our name was still not called. So we either got

second place, or we won? I though. I could not believe what was happening. The highest Mira

Mesa had every placed in nationals was fifth. We had already made history. After what felt like

forever, the announcer said, Second place. Minnetonka High School! Did she say Minnetonka,

and not Mira Mesa? Did we win? I was in tears, squeezing my best friends hand as tightly as I

could. The announcer shouts, First place. Out of San Diego, California, Mira Mesa High

School! We jumped up, screaming, crying, and hugging each other. None of us could believe

that we did it. We were the first Mira Mesa High School cheer team to ever win nationals.

The first place teams at nationals receive satin white jackets with gold embroidery that says

National 2014 Champions. Still in awe, and in tears, we walked over to the tent where we

picked up our jackets. Sliding the jacket on, one arm at a time, I was shaking. None of it felt real,

but we did it. My team my family performed the best routine we possibly could have, and all

of our hard work and dedication paid off.

With our National Champions jackets on in front of the winners banner, we cried tears
of joy after achieving our dream.
Picture taken by Paul Little

Starting my senior year after winning nationals was amazing. The returning members

were filled with confidence, and hope that we could do it again. In hopes of maintaining a

dedicated cheer program, I decided to try out for the varsity captain position. The captain held a

lot of responsibility for the team, but I believed I had the ability to handle it. It was against me,

and one other girl for the position. Thankfully, I received enough support from my teammates

and coaches, and was given the captain spot!

While becoming varsity captain was a great feeling, the girl I went up against, and four of

her supporters were not as happy, and they held a grudge on me for the rest of the year.

Throughout the year, they were all rude, and disrespectful to me. This made it a lot more difficult

to fulfill my responsibilities as captain, because I wanted to make everyone happy. Since they
were not happy with me as their captain, I thought I already failed my job, and was not being the

best leader for the team. After a lot of tears, and a lot of thinking, by the time nationals came, I

decided for myself that it was not my job to make sure everyone was happy. It was my job to

help lead the team to our goal, and to be the best team member I could be. Once I realized that, I

enjoyed myself so much more, and I think everyone else did too. Although we placed second at

nationals that year, losing by half a point, I left high school cheer knowing that I did the best I

could as a leader, and that we did our best as a team. I have no regrets.

I posed with the five girls who stood by me the past four years on our Senior Night football
game.
Picture taken by Tom Jensen

Entering college, I was having a hard time deciding whether or not to cheer. After

accepting UC Davis, I looked into their cheer program to help me make my decision.

Unfortunately, I had missed the try out deadline because I was waitlisted for the school, and by

the time I found out, try outs had already passed. Disheartened, I decided that it was a sign that I

needed to take a year off and adjust to the new college environment, and being far away from
home. All year, however, I felt like something was missing. I was happy, but not as happy as I

had been in high school. I felt antisocial and bored, because the only thing I did was study. I

knew that I needed to have cheer back in my life, so that I balanced school and fun.

In May of 2016, I tried out for the UC Davis cheer team. It was a completely different feeling

than my high school team, because the UC Davis team does not compete, but I knew I needed to

do it anyway.

My new teammate and I pose with the UC Davis mascot, Gunrock.

Picture taken by Rebecca Schiff

Fortunately, I made the team, and I am now a part of the UC Davis Cheer program. It has

been a roller coaster of a year, but I am a lot happier than I was my freshman year of college. I
have learned that my life is not the same without cheer, and I need to have something to do other

than school. I am continuing to improve, and make new memories. Cheer has taught me a lot

about teamwork, dedication, and leadership, that I would not have learned the same way in

another sport. I have a passion for cheer, and I cannot imagine my life without it.