I remember the first day of open gym for LHS Cheerleading for the following year. I was so nervous because I was surrounded by girls that were several years older than me. Also, those of us that went to Jonesville Middle School usually didn't socialize with anyone from Pennington Middle School. We were considered county rivals. You can imagine what it felt like to be thrown together with people that you had never spoken to or met before in your life. It’s feels like there’s a hundred emotions going through you in a matter of minutes. For instance, one minute you’re feeling scared and terrified, then you’re anxious. However in my case, I felt very nauseous and it felt as if I was going to pass out because of the pressure of trying to prove myself to the coaches.
When I tried out for my Freshman year, we had the option of JV or Varsity. You had to choose which one you wanted as your first choice and which one was your second choice. At first I chose JV as my first choice and Varsity as my second. Then I got to thinking, “What if they think I’m good enough to make Varsity but don’t put me on the squad because it wasn’t my first choice?”. The day of the actual tryout, I asked one of the coaches if I could change my choice options before we started the tryouts. I switched my choices around and made Varsity my first choice.
I walked into the gym a nervous wreck, but I performed my tryout routine for the coaches and the judges. Looking back, I think what made me so nervous was the serious, strict looks I was receiving from the judges. The coaches however, made me feel at ease with their kind smiles and the occasional thumbs up. Once I walked out of the gym, I was free to go home. They wouldn’t be posting the list until that Monday after. Having to wait the entire weekend was the hardest part. It felt like I had waited a century for Monday to come. I walked into the school with the feeling of anxiousness. I looked at the list for JV and didn’t see my number. However, when I looked over at the Varsity list, I saw my number letting me know that I had made the squad. Because I had changed my choices about my first and second choice, I had been lucky enough to be able to cheer for the football team every Friday night.
