krystynakrez
CheeringWonka
- Jul 4, 2010
- 2,331
- 6,204
I had written an essay with the full intention of using it on my college application, only to realize after writing it that it was double the word count I was allowed. I sent it out to many people but I was asked to put it on the boards. It's obviously not a finalized version, but you get the point.
Enjoy
When presented with the question, "what is your greatest achievement" most people would tell you a story about themselves, and what makes them so great. My greatest achievement would've been impossible to achieve by myself.
I am a competitive all star cheerleader. I've spent a,most every weekend during my high school years at a convention center doing something that I love. I spend countless hours in the gym with my 19 other teammates and my coach, who is a young entrepreneur at age 23. Our gym has 9 teams now, ranging in the age groups of mini and tiny all the way up to the prestigious senior age bracket.
I am a 3 year veteran on our most demanding and advanced teams, Senior Level 4 and Level 5. Being on two teams isn't easy, but it's worth it.
In the fall of 2010 we began to choreograph our senior 4 routine for the 2011 season. We had just gotten the news that our coach was taking us to Atlanta Georgia for CHEERSPORT nationals which is the worlds largest cheerleading competition. There are over 900 teams in attendance resulting in roughly 70,000 cheerleaders all in one place at one time. We had known early that because it was such a big competition that our chances of winning our first time there were very small. Nevertheless, we trained hard. Really hard. We had the most challenging skills in our routine that the level would allow and we were confident with them. We set a goal to place in the top 5 and we thought that if we really left our hearts on the mat that we could attain that goal.
In February we made our way down to Atlanta. The night before the competition started we all decided to go check out the arena to get a feel of what it would be like. We walked through the practice arena and were in awe of what we saw. I've never been in a room so big with so many athletes in it before. Every where you looked there was another stellar team showcasing their talents and proving why they should take home the national champion title. We knew that we had a job to do, and we took it seriously.
This particular competition was a 2 day competiton in which our scores from both days would be averaged to get our final score. On the first day we went out and performed everything we had to perfection with one mistake. Our mistake was that when one of our members was tumbling, she fell and touched the mat on her way down. This is a major deduction.
Because we are in the senior she bracket, we performed last, at 9:30 PM. This meant that we would have to wait until 11:30 PM to find out our placing for day 1. We were all so anxious to see how we did and how we ranked against the nation's best teams.
Our coach got the scores and we were in first with a 20 point lead! We were all ecstatic but then quickly composed ourselves because we knew that there was still another day of competition.
On day 2 we went into the arena with our heads held high and a sense of Achievement an responsibility on our backs. We had to be better than we were before and make everyone know that we could do it. We were there to represent everything that our gym stands for and make a name for our team. We had to be a team that the younger girls at our gym could look up to and be proud of. We knew that no matter what the outcome was that we had to be mature young women and handle ourselves with class.
The time came quickly and before I knew it we were running out onto the stage in front of everyone. The lights were shining in our hopeful eyes, and I felt butterflies in my stomach. This was it. We had worked 9 months for this moment. There were no second chances. We had the next 2 minutes and 30 seconds to prove ourselves. The moment of silence before our music starts is almost unbearable. In that moment you have to put all of the energy you possibly can into every motion, every jump, every facial expression that you can. You can't hold back at nationals.
The routine starts and were performing like we never have. It's our time to shine and were taking full advantage of it. Our mistakes from yesterday were corrected and made even better today. During the routine I caught a glimpse at my coach. She was crying. We had made her proud. In that moment, we all knew. We knew that we had given everything we possibly could and we knew that our fate was in the judges hands. It was over, and we couldn't change anything. At the end of the routine all 20 members of the team were in a huddle on the floor, crying because we knew what we had achieved.
We made our way to the awards ceremony, as hopeful as we'd ever be. Placements were being announced and we were getting nervous. They were announcing the top 10 teams and our name still hadn't been called. With our hands all interlocked with white knuckles, we moved on to top 3. We were all so nervous and our hearts were beating so quickly. Even the sound system was a heart beat to increase the nerves. Third place was called - not us. This was it. It all came down to this. Second place was called.... Not us! We couldn't contain our emotions. We had won. We were national champions. The tears were rolling down our faces as we all jumped up to hug each other. I have never experienced a feeling like that in my entire life.
Without those other 19 girls I never would have been able to achieve something on a scale so large like that. I owe my achievements to them, as they are now a part of me. They are my family. It may sound cliche, but they are like the sisters I never had. To this day we are all best friends and reminisce on that day.
To say that was my greatest achievement and best moment of my life is an understatement.
Enjoy
When presented with the question, "what is your greatest achievement" most people would tell you a story about themselves, and what makes them so great. My greatest achievement would've been impossible to achieve by myself.
I am a competitive all star cheerleader. I've spent a,most every weekend during my high school years at a convention center doing something that I love. I spend countless hours in the gym with my 19 other teammates and my coach, who is a young entrepreneur at age 23. Our gym has 9 teams now, ranging in the age groups of mini and tiny all the way up to the prestigious senior age bracket.
I am a 3 year veteran on our most demanding and advanced teams, Senior Level 4 and Level 5. Being on two teams isn't easy, but it's worth it.
In the fall of 2010 we began to choreograph our senior 4 routine for the 2011 season. We had just gotten the news that our coach was taking us to Atlanta Georgia for CHEERSPORT nationals which is the worlds largest cheerleading competition. There are over 900 teams in attendance resulting in roughly 70,000 cheerleaders all in one place at one time. We had known early that because it was such a big competition that our chances of winning our first time there were very small. Nevertheless, we trained hard. Really hard. We had the most challenging skills in our routine that the level would allow and we were confident with them. We set a goal to place in the top 5 and we thought that if we really left our hearts on the mat that we could attain that goal.
In February we made our way down to Atlanta. The night before the competition started we all decided to go check out the arena to get a feel of what it would be like. We walked through the practice arena and were in awe of what we saw. I've never been in a room so big with so many athletes in it before. Every where you looked there was another stellar team showcasing their talents and proving why they should take home the national champion title. We knew that we had a job to do, and we took it seriously.
This particular competition was a 2 day competiton in which our scores from both days would be averaged to get our final score. On the first day we went out and performed everything we had to perfection with one mistake. Our mistake was that when one of our members was tumbling, she fell and touched the mat on her way down. This is a major deduction.
Because we are in the senior she bracket, we performed last, at 9:30 PM. This meant that we would have to wait until 11:30 PM to find out our placing for day 1. We were all so anxious to see how we did and how we ranked against the nation's best teams.
Our coach got the scores and we were in first with a 20 point lead! We were all ecstatic but then quickly composed ourselves because we knew that there was still another day of competition.
On day 2 we went into the arena with our heads held high and a sense of Achievement an responsibility on our backs. We had to be better than we were before and make everyone know that we could do it. We were there to represent everything that our gym stands for and make a name for our team. We had to be a team that the younger girls at our gym could look up to and be proud of. We knew that no matter what the outcome was that we had to be mature young women and handle ourselves with class.
The time came quickly and before I knew it we were running out onto the stage in front of everyone. The lights were shining in our hopeful eyes, and I felt butterflies in my stomach. This was it. We had worked 9 months for this moment. There were no second chances. We had the next 2 minutes and 30 seconds to prove ourselves. The moment of silence before our music starts is almost unbearable. In that moment you have to put all of the energy you possibly can into every motion, every jump, every facial expression that you can. You can't hold back at nationals.
The routine starts and were performing like we never have. It's our time to shine and were taking full advantage of it. Our mistakes from yesterday were corrected and made even better today. During the routine I caught a glimpse at my coach. She was crying. We had made her proud. In that moment, we all knew. We knew that we had given everything we possibly could and we knew that our fate was in the judges hands. It was over, and we couldn't change anything. At the end of the routine all 20 members of the team were in a huddle on the floor, crying because we knew what we had achieved.
We made our way to the awards ceremony, as hopeful as we'd ever be. Placements were being announced and we were getting nervous. They were announcing the top 10 teams and our name still hadn't been called. With our hands all interlocked with white knuckles, we moved on to top 3. We were all so nervous and our hearts were beating so quickly. Even the sound system was a heart beat to increase the nerves. Third place was called - not us. This was it. It all came down to this. Second place was called.... Not us! We couldn't contain our emotions. We had won. We were national champions. The tears were rolling down our faces as we all jumped up to hug each other. I have never experienced a feeling like that in my entire life.
Without those other 19 girls I never would have been able to achieve something on a scale so large like that. I owe my achievements to them, as they are now a part of me. They are my family. It may sound cliche, but they are like the sisters I never had. To this day we are all best friends and reminisce on that day.
To say that was my greatest achievement and best moment of my life is an understatement.
Thank you
