Personal Narrative: Cheerleading
Cheerleading is one of my most defining life experiences. The sport allowed me to explore not only my leadership qualities, but also my own mentorship abilities. From a newbie to cheerleading in middle school, I grew and developed into a role model on my cheerleading team in high school.
In freshmen in high school, my coach told me that I was taking charge of the team, since the captain was absent. At first, I was excited that I was able to demonstrate my leadership qualities, but then pressure was piled onto me as I try to figure out how I should behave. However, I took a minute think back to what my captain typically did for warm-ups. What I found was my teammates taking me seriously and respected how I started practice.
Later on that practice,
I had the opportunity to teach the team a new routine. I made sure that my teammateswere on the same page and understood the routine before we moved on. When it comes to stunting, I made sure that everyone in the stunt group made sure they know what they are going to do by going to through and marking every motion. This is very important because if we have a miscommunication on the stunt, then it’ll go wrong and someone or many people will get hurt in the process.
From leading at that initial cheerleading practice, I eventually worked on demonstrating my leadership qualities at other opportunities. After achieving All-American cheerleading status two years in a row, I became co-captain of my cheerleading team and began to lead the team in a new direction. I always consider all options when making decisions. When I was leading, my goal is to address anyone had questions or ideas in order to have full team representation. It is important for a good leader to recognize each team members opinion, even if they conflict with your own.
Different obstacles presented themselves during my time with the team, such as recognition by administration that cheerleading is a serious sport and diversity of people joining the cheerleading team. I was one of the only Asian-American cheerleaders on the team. After encouraging interested people, we now have a more diverse representation on our team. I hope to bring my enthusiasm and leadership qualities to the classroom and in clubs at Pitt as well as find opportunities to further develop them.
In freshmen in high school, my coach told me that I was taking charge of the team, since the captain was absent. At first, I was excited that I was able to demonstrate my leadership qualities, but then pressure was piled onto me as I try to figure out how I should behave. However, I took a minute think back to what my captain typically did for warm-ups. What I found was my teammates taking me seriously and respected how I started practice.
Later on that practice,
I had the opportunity to teach the team a new routine. I made sure that my teammateswere on the same page and understood the routine before we moved on. When it comes to stunting, I made sure that everyone in the stunt group made sure they know what they are going to do by going to through and marking every motion. This is very important because if we have a miscommunication on the stunt, then it’ll go wrong and someone or many people will get hurt in the process.
From leading at that initial cheerleading practice, I eventually worked on demonstrating my leadership qualities at other opportunities. After achieving All-American cheerleading status two years in a row, I became co-captain of my cheerleading team and began to lead the team in a new direction. I always consider all options when making decisions. When I was leading, my goal is to address anyone had questions or ideas in order to have full team representation. It is important for a good leader to recognize each team members opinion, even if they conflict with your own.
Different obstacles presented themselves during my time with the team, such as recognition by administration that cheerleading is a serious sport and diversity of people joining the cheerleading team. I was one of the only Asian-American cheerleaders on the team. After encouraging interested people, we now have a more diverse representation on our team. I hope to bring my enthusiasm and leadership qualities to the classroom and in clubs at Pitt as well as find opportunities to further develop them.