Unit 1 Project

 

Carlee Bears

I started cheerleading from a very young age. Never did I see in my future cheering through to college and being well versed in the sport. This is my journey through the highs and the lows of becoming literate in cheerleading. My interest in cheerleading sparked around the age of five. My sister was a cheerleader, I watched her compete and practice in envy. She would always encourage me to try it out. She would help me learn skills in the backyard and teach me new things every day. At that point in time, I was also playing soccer and hockey, so I was hesitant about cheering. My family is a hockey family. This means that my dad and both my brothers played hockey. Not only this but we also attended many local hockey AHL games. Because of this, I was afraid I would disappoint my family if I didn't continue to play hockey. One day I decided I would try out for the cheer team. Not necessarily because I really wanted to or because I had any idea I would stick with it for 12 years but more because all my friends were trying out. I didn't have much motivation to participate because of what we were doing but I thought it would be fun, nonetheless, I enjoyed cheerleading much more than I believed I would. I not only enjoyed spending time with my friends, but I loved practices and competitions despite the social aspect as well. I continued to participate for about five years. My sister then tried out at a competitive gym not run through the school, so I decided I would as well. This decision came with a lot of hard choices. If I wanted to cheer competitively, I would have to stop playing soccer and hockey. Despite the difficulties I had making this decision I decided cheerleading is what made me the happiest. From this point on I fully committed to cheerleading and doing anything I could to improve. The gym became my second home and family, I developed great relationships with coaches and friends that I still have today, I would spend every day in the gym for hours at a time. This is also how I learned about dedication, commitment, time management, and so much more. After a few years my hard work had finally paid off and I made the highest-level team at the gym. I loved and love so many aspects of cheerleading. The specific parts of cheer came to be exhilarating and a source of adrenaline for me. Tumbling, stunting, and performing became some of my favorite things to do. The nerves and anxiety before competing were washed away by the immense feelings of relief and happiness during and afterwards. Through knowing our hard work paid off and that we came together as a team when we perform a successful routine it is the greatest stress reliever.  I was on this team for five years, until I graduated high school. This team taught me so many lessons, coming onto the team as an 8^th grader and staying on the team until my senior year allowed me to grow as a person and athlete. I started on the team as a young athlete with older athletes. This forced me to learn to take corrections and mature to fit in with the rest of my team. As years progressed my role on the team switched from an inexperienced athlete to a leader on the team. This leadership role was initiated my junior year, my coach suggested I start being a leader on the team and taking initiative in some situations. The following year, my senior year, I was named captain of the team. This led me to develop new traits that I hadn’t had to previously use. This presented major character development throughout my journey in cheerleading. I developed from a shy, confused, and unable athlete to an experienced athlete and leader. I later committed to Syracuse University. At that point the idea of giving up cheer was an unimaginable thought. I was getting flooding questions of whether I was going to try out for the cheer team or not. Some people talked me out of it, they suggested it would be too much to cheer and maintain grades or that I would not get the full college experience. I decided to do what I thought would be best for me. I knew I wouldn’t be able to give up one of the constants in my life, so, I tried out for the team at Syracuse. I found out I made the Small Coed team just before graduation. This meant that I would be moving into school on August 11^th instead of the last weekend in August when most of my friends from home were moving in. During this time, we had pre-season, this meant two practices a day with meetings, team bonding, and physicals as well. We spent hours a day cheering and working out on an empty campus. It was hard but I was able to make friends on the team and persevere. I have made many adjustments and had to work on time management to balance a schedule with school, cheer, and friends. “Their mental representations of the various concepts are challenged, refined and further developed.” (Learn well). This discusses how the shift from high school athletics to college athletics is a major shift. It causes lots of adaptation and perseverance. Although we have a busy schedule, I am so happy about the decision I made to continue cheering. I am so grateful for the path that led me to stick with cheerleading to this day. It is now a major part of my life and has been for many years. Cheerleading made me happy because of the community that turned into my second family throughout my years in the program. I still maintain the relationships I made through cheerleading. Luckily my family is extremely proud of me for the accomplishments I had in competitive cheerleading and the accomplishments I will have here. They are fully supportive and always have been of my decision to continue with cheerleading. They are now my biggest fans and have not missed a game or competition. I learned to be literate, and cheerleading and I am still learning new things every day. The lessons I learned are crucial to being a good person, athlete, and student. These lessons and experiences I will continue to value and hold with me.

Citation: Geddes, Leonard. “Using Athletic Literacy Skills to Develop Academic Literacy Skills: A Promising Innovative Approach.” The LearnWell Projects, 17 Aug. 2023, thelearnwellprojects.com/using-athletic-literacy-skills-to-develop-academic-literacy-skills-a-promising-innovative-approach/.

 

Reflection:

1.     An assignment that I completed that was significant in growing my understanding of the concept was the writing about our literacy and becoming literate in something. I didn’t know exactly what this meant before this class. After the free write, the rough draft, and project 1 I now fully understand what this means and how it plays into my daily life. I can now incorporate this into other classes and parts of my life.

2.     I am understanding analysis/argument differently now than I was at the beginning of this course because I now view many things differently. The questions I ask when I am analyzing a video, or a document are much different than the way I asked questions and analyzed before. I think that the structure of the class helped shape me. The way we write in the beginning of class and the way we take notes on videos altered my understanding of analysis.

3.     The role of the readings incorporated a lot of personality and inspiration into the content of the course thus far. The writings and work we have done so far incorporated personality and allowed us to write through personal experiences.

4.     I decided to quote what I did about the shift from high school to college athletics because that is one of the biggest adjustments I have had to make thus far. It is extremely different from what I used to do. This source inspired me to think more deeply about why I continue to stick with cheer and how I learn new things throughout the journey.

5.     I originally started strictly talking about my journey with cheer, it lacked personality and direct experience. As I continued to write I started to include things about my family, some things that I learned, experiences I had, and more. Therefore, as my writing progressed it got increasingly personal and specific to who I am.

6.     If I had more time, I would like to continue working on the traits I have carried on with me from my past years of cheer. I would include how I incorporate these traits into my daily life. I would incorporate specific examples of how these traits have helped to guide me through life.

TThe Cheerleading Worlds: At ESPN in Florida

                            I attended for 5 years (8th grade until senior year)