I have to admit that I’m disappointed with some of today’s youth. Most of us want to get high-paying jobs that don’t require tedious work. They want to forget college, to forget the future. They don’t care about the outcomes of their doings. They think that school should be something that shouldn’t be taken seriously. What they don’t know is that drinking, partying, and putting off their schoolwork can only take them so far.
I, however, worked hard to get to where I am. I didn’t get to where I am by slacking off and letting life pass me by. I’m not saying that I’m perfect; nobody is. It’s just that I’ve been through a lot of things that have made me who I am; I’ve had experiences that have made me stronger, experiences that taught me valuable lessons. Like any other person, I’ve made mistakes and I’ve learned from them.
I joined the varsity cheerleading squad back in sixth grade. Then, I was clueless about what it was, what its true purposes were. I just knew that they wanted someone like me, someone who had had years of dance experience behind them. I was shallow. I used to think that it would be a piece of cake.
I didn’t expect for it to be so difficult. It was different from my years of formal ballet training. Our coach scared me. Everything had to be perfect. He would make us repeat the steps over and over and when we would get it wrong, he would yell at us. I was terrified. I remember asking my mother if I could quit. She threatened to tell my coach. I felt as if I had no choice but to continue what I started.
I spent the next few months working harder than I ever had. I trained four hours a day, three times a week. My coach pushed us all to do our best, to exercise our strengths