Drew Marie Estrella – Beed 1A

When
I think of cheerleading, I think of a true sport that has taught me patience, teamwork,
compassion, acceptance, determination, and the true meaning of a team. If I hadn’t been
cheering, and met the people I have met in my life, my life now and my future would be totally
different. I owe my success in life to my teammates. To me, cheerleading is about family. We
practice every day for several hours, and we spend this entire time bonding and learning with
the same people every day, which eventually leads to incredible bonds. They’ve got your back
and you’ve got theirs (literally), which definitely comes in handy throughout the rest of your
life. To me, cheerleading is about learning patience. There comes a time in every season when
the going gets tough and the tough (almost) give up. There have been many times when I
couldn’t land a skill, or my stunt group just wasn’t hitting their stunts, and I have practically
wanted to throw in the towel. Learning to take a step back, breathe, fix the problem, and move
on, has helped me learn to trust the process and be persistent with myself no matter what I am
going through. To me, cheerleading is about having confidence in oneself. If you don’t believe
you’re going to throw and land that skill, you probably won’t. Believing in yourself is an
important element that cheerleading requires in order for you to be successful.