I believe in independence. Ever since I was a young girl I have always been independent. From when I was two years old, till I was 17, I was an all-star or “competitive” cheerleader. I was taken out of school early every single day for about 10 years, just so we can beat the New York traffic, and make it to New Jersey on time, for practice.
I was taken to practice by my teammates parents, and taken home by them as well. I grew up without my parents, but not in an abandoned way. They had to work twice as hard so they can support my dreams and goals to be on the USA team. But since they had to always work, I rarely saw them nor had a strong connection with them, but I was okay with that.
During competition season, I would be on the road every weekend traveling from state to state, for about 8-9 months. I was traveling alone to these competitions since I was about five years old, being watched by my teammates parents or even my own coaches.
Have been being independent at a very young age, it helped me through some dark and hard times in my life. Starting high school was a hard time for me. Everybody had their clicks, getting invited to parties, hanging out after school, but there I was, friendless in the ninth grade, just because my class knew what my priorities were at the time. But that became very hard for me. I felt left out constantly, felt like nobody liked me and so on.
The ninth grade became a very dark year for me. It forced me to become stronger and grow a thicker skin. I ended up quitting competitive cheer when I was 16-17 years old, because I wanted to gain a real “high school experience.” But even though I quit, that independence stuck with me.
Looking back at my life, I realized that if I never became a cheerleader I don’t know where I would be right now in my life. Cheerleading taught me structure, respect, responsibility, and most of all independence. Being independent got me through hard times, it made me work on who I am and who I want to be. It got me to reach my goals with no distractions, and made me who I am today. I would never change being an independent person for anything. I will always believe in independence.