Personal Essay: My Personal Identity In Cheerleading
496 Words2 Pages
Cheerleading is one of my most defining life experiences. From the sport, I learned the value of perseverance, and explored my identity as a female athlete. During my college search, I learned that PennState is a community that would provide the opportunities further my academic and personal growth. Whether in the classroom or at a campus event, I want to share and develop my cheerleading experiences with the PennState community. Personal qualities that I value deeply, such as my perseverance, grew from my initial failure in cheerleading. In 7th grade, I heard about cheerleading tryouts and immediately jumped at the opportunity to join. Before my tryout, my mom mentioned that she never seen an Asian-American female cheerleader and questioned if I had the ability to become one. Ignoring her, I tried out for the team. After the results were posted, I remember anxiously searching for my name. It was not there. Disappointment crept up as I contemplated if my mom was right. A part of me, however, wanted to prove those thoughts wrong so I continued to practice the sport in my spare…show more content… During my time in high school, each fall sport would be honored at the end-of-the-season ceremony. Cheerleading, however, was never included and always accompanied a separate football reception. Initially, I did not question the tradition, until I noticed how cheerleading was perceived by the administration and other students. Cheerleading was not viewed as a serious sport. My goal there on afterwards was to increase the awareness of our sport and the hard work each of my team members put into it. I tried to get us to learn more tricks and asked other team members to join me in going to the fall reception to represent ourselves. While not all of the actions had significant effects, I continue to push for recognition and the opportunity to learn more about my identity as a female