adventures of a typical high school student

Hello everyone!

I’ve written a lot about my two-year stint as a high school cheerleader on this blog in the past and I (spoiler alert) am very happy to announce that it has finally come to an end! This post is going up during the end of my first cheer-free week of school, and I could not be happier to have finished out the season. I know it’s a little silly to be making a post about whether or not I miss cheer after such a short time, but I’ll be posting an update to this in a few months or so.

I’d been anticipating the ending of this cheer season almost as soon as it began, and I seriously considered quitting the team after the rough summer practices and cheer camp. However, I’m proud of myself for sticking it out these past nine months- I honestly can’t believe I’ve made it through all of the craziness this season has brought into my life from the beginning of May up until now. I didn’t think there would be a single thing I would miss, which was a little foolish considering cheer has consumed a huge portion of the past couple years of my life.

One thing I’m definitely concerned about is how I’ll be getting my exercise from now on. Cheer practices in the hot sun, mile runs, and weekly conditioning may have been torturous, but I got a great workout out of it and was super in shape during the summer/football season when we were practicing in full-force. I’m already out of shape and less toned, and it’s hard to force myself to work out when it’s not built into my schedule. I try to go outside and go on walks on weekends, but I definitely don’t have time during the week.

I still need one more semester of P.E. credit, and since I’m not doing cheer next year, I’m about to switch into a P.E. class during seventh period (the “period” reserved for sports usually). I’m not thrilled about the situation, but it’ll end up working out since I’ve been stuck at school during seventh period anyways since my mom can’t pick me up right when I get out, and I no longer have cheer after school to keep me busy until she can. If P.E. is absolutely horrible, I’ll do an online P.E. class for a semester, but I’m hoping the class will be tolerable at school so I can get some nice workout time in the sun.

However, I really don’t miss the dynamic of cheer. I don’t miss having to go to practice or games every single day, and worrying about wearing the correct outfit and hairstyle to match almost every school day. I guess it was nice to not have to pick out my own outfit, but I was tired of being restricted to their demands and getting in trouble for pushing the boundaries in any way- I couldn’t even wear jewelry, and one of my ear piercing holes closed up. I don’t miss feeling like an outsider on the team, and I don’t miss rushing to get my homework done after a long game day when I just wanted to go to sleep.

Basically, I wasn’t really cut out for the high school athlete life to begin with- I had figured that out after my freshman year season of cheer, and I probably shouldn’t have pushed myself to do another season. That being said, I’m grateful to have had the opportunity to be on a high school sports team and get involved with school in this way, and I don’t actually regret my decision, even though I might say that I do. Everything happens for a reason, and I guess it’s cool that I can say I’ve been a high school cheerleader, right?

Sometimes I feel guilty that I’m “quitting” now- even though I’m just choosing not to try out again, and not really quitting, it still feels like I’m quitting something and losing a part of my high school identity thus far. That being said, I could not be more confident that this is the right choice for me- I’ll have way more time to focus on other things, and I wouldn’t have wanted to juggle such a huge time commitment that’s not even enjoyable for me during my junior year next year.

The short answer to the question I posed in the title of this post is no, but I am somewhat nostalgic for the good times I had while being on the team. There’s a lot I won’t miss, but looking back and seeing how fast my two years on the team flew, I wish I had savored the moment a little more, rather than wishing it all away. If you’re in a situation that’s not desirable, it doesn’t always mean you should try to rush it- every stage of your life is important for growth, even if it doesn’t seem like it at the time.

Brooke