Now That's Dedication!

As I told you before, I had a huge cheerleading competition this weekend. The biggest one I've been at by far and probably one of the worst and best all combined into one. When I arrived at the gym Saturday morning, everyone was dead. They looked tired, uninviting, and cold. We all were tired but happy to get to go up a day early to do some shopping. But first, we had to warm up and do a couple full mark throughs. It's not an actual workout, more like walking through your routine, only we were in jeans and t-shirts. Not my idea of practice clothes. What sucked even more is that my jeans, cheap as they were, decided to rip on me and so I had ripped jeans at our morning practice and practically the entire gym got a viewing of my crotchal area and pink and gold undies. Classy right? Yeah so least to say I was a little bit upset. Plus, when we got on the bus it was crazy loud and all I wanted to do was sleep. But trust me sleeping on a bus full of cheerleaders and cramped seats that are so awkward and uncomfortable to try and somewhat lay down in, doesn't match up and instead I spent my bus ride memorizing song lyrics with Emma. It was weird how Emma and I were never really close friends on the team until a month ago when we became friends at a competition and now it's like we're connected at the hip at practice. We always have alot of fun and we put in some effort to see if we can room together at Nationals. But this is all besides my point. When we finally got there, I was starving but decided against eating because we were going out for team dinner. It was really fun being at the Mall of America but it's tough because you can easily get yourself lost. We had to refer to mall floor maps several times and my shopping group was a little less enthused then I was to go shopping. I still got my fair share of good deals, but we had to practically run to the dinner meeting place only to sit and wait for the other late late late people. We finally got in and sat down at Bubba Gump. I was excited to try the place because I am a huge fan of the movie Forest Gump, which is what the restaurant chain is based off of. But, I hate seafood so I was hoping to get some chicken fingers or something. Instead, we got to choose from four choices of: fried shrimp, fish and chips, cheeseburger, or caesar salad with grilled chicken. None of it sounded appetizing to me but when asking for a full menu, I was denied. So, I ordered the salad but asked for fried chicken so I could at least eat them like they were chicken strips. After eating and paying $22 per person (ridiculous I know) we got back to the hotel with ten minutes to spare before jumping back on the bus for practice. When we got to this gym, we stretched and warmed up and began to practice. It was hard. Everyone was unfocused and as a result the run throughs were inconsistent and failing. Not to mention we had two injured girls jump back in after a couple weeks of sitting out. After almost two hours, our coach sat us down and basically told us she had zero confidence in us, that we weren't performing to the best of our ability, and that we needed to work alot harder if we wanted to look presentable. Basically, before leaving the gym she told us to pray for tomorrrow. So, everyone got back in the bus in tears and anger. It was the worst seeing my teammates like this and knowing that I couldn't do much of anything about it. Everyone was pissed off and when we got back to the hotel, we went to our rooms sulking and hoping for the coming of the new day. When we woke up, spirits hadn't changed much and when we arrived at the competition, it didn't feel good like it always does. Instead, it felt incredibly sickening and I just wanted to go home. After four hours when warm-ups finally came around, our warm-up was just as crappy as our practice and therefore we were even more bummed and discouraged. Our coach told us to try as hard as we could and that if we tried hard enough, we could make that routine worthwhile! We stepped on the competition floor, my feelings of anxiety and depression momentarily gone and we performed full-out flawlessness. It was wonderful. Everything was left at the doors just before that mat and we felt like a team once again. One girl, Amy, was particularly inspiring to me because she recently had a borderline stress fracture on her ankle, practically at the point of breaking, been on crutches for a mere seven days, and she full out performed. That is truly dedication to the team and it made me inspired to work through my struggles and tragedies that often times I feel I'm all alone at. Seeing my team do that meant the world to me and no matter how we placed, I knew we had done our best. When awards came around, nerves were in the air. There were 7 teams in our division and guess what? We took first! Not only that, we took division champions, and then GRAND CHAMPIONS!!!!!!!! That's right folks, we scored the highest out of all the teams there and we won the entire competition. It was the BEST feeling in the world, especially after a weak practice and down-in-the-dumps night. Nothing could have stopped the incredible feeling I was having, and even though I'm getting sick, nothing can change how good I feel. I just want to keep trying even harder at practice and keeping in mind that Nationals is only two months away. And now, more than ever, we're gonna keep working hard and doing what we do. Being Champions!!! :)



Wanna shop at the biggest mall in America? Check out the stores! I recommend 5-7-9, Charloette Russe, Forever 21, and DEB!



http://www.mallofamerica.com/