Narrative Overview

Trying to find my topic to write my personal narrative was the most difficult part. I feel like in my life I have had a lot of "ah ha" moments. When I decided to write about the experience of going Cheerleading Worlds and everything that went into it, it took me back! I remembered all the good and bad times that went on. It also made me think about how that experience changed me, and how it effects my work ethic today! This assignment also made me think more about the whole experience of going to worlds rather than the event itself! This was for sure my favorite writing assignment this semester.

Personal Narrative

Winning Even When You Don’t Get First Place

            Five months of preparation, countless injuries, and more blood sweat and tears than you could imagine, and it all comes down to this one moment. Sitting on the panel mats with my cheerleading team all around me, holding hands, and praying that all our hard work will pay off. The beaming voice of the announcer echoes throughout the arena as he begins to announce the placement of each team: Starting with 24^th place our little anxious hearts begin to pound harder and harder as the number gets smaller. We hear

“And in 5^th place, Pride Athletic Champions.”

The team goes silent and small cheers begin from the crowd, but not from girls who just spent what feels like a lifetime on a 3-minute routine that didn’t reach the judges expectations. Low was an understatement to how we felt at that moment.

            Lets go back five months prior. It was a normal Junior 4 practice (junior is the age level and 4 is the skill level). Practice ended and I was getting ready to leave when the cheer gym owner Tenay came up to me and asked if she could talk to me in her office. Tenay was the epitome of a cheer coach, with her toned legs, to her rocking six-pack, and always full of energy. She was willing to step in for girls and show us how to do skills instead of telling. I idolized her and her passion for this intense sport! Fluttering butterflies swarmed my stomach because I knew exactly what this conversation was going to be about. Cheerleading Worlds was coming up and this is not your typical cheer competition. You have to qualify and only a certain number of teams from each country are selected to compete, and our cheer gym had just qualified, among four others from America. I walked into her office shaking like an Olympian standing on the podium awaiting their eminent results. She sat me down and with the anxious voice said

“Mackenzie since our Junior 5 team just qualified for Worlds we are looking to add about 5 more athletes to the routine and wanted to know if you would be one of those girls.”

I felt pools of tears forming in my eyes. I had been working so hard to get my level 5 skills and finally, I was being notice for my countless hours in the gym.

“Yes, of course I will do whatever it takes to help out the team!”

“Thank you so much Mack! I hope you are ready to challenge yourself and work harder than you ever have.”

“Yes, I am Coach”

“Okay I’ll see you at practice on Tuesday then!”

I understood the struggles that were about to begin as I took on this new challenge and the process it would take to adapt to a new team.

            The next week practices began and that’s when everything changed. I was pushed physically, mentally, and emotionally in ways I didn’t know were possible. The team welcomed me with open arms and right away I began to feel like these girls were my family. I knew that I could go to them for anything. As Worlds crept up, our practices were longer, and more intense. I can’t think of one practice that I didn’t get hit in the face, “eat mat” on tumbling, or go home bruised all over. We were all working our bodies to their maximum capability. Because we were so young (11-16 years old), we struggled trying to keep up with the senior 5 team in the gym who we looked up to, but also felt a sense of competition towards. Our team was a new structured collaboration of girls as well and most teams that compete at Worlds have been working together for years. This gave us a disadvantage, but we just kept pushing ourselves. We motivated each other and came together more and more every practice so, that by the time we arrived in Florida to compete we had built intensely close friendships.

            By the time we got to Disney World at least half of the girls had gone through or still had an injury, but knew that they had to push through it for the sake of the other girls. It felt like one thing after another was bringing us down, but we weren’t letting anything stop our perseverance.  We had three full days before the competition started that were dedicated to practicing and team building. We had two practices a day outside and one practice a day at a local cheer gym. In between practices we were eating, napping, and icing our bodies. At this point everything was hitting consistent and we felt ready to get on the mat and give it our all.

            Finally, it was day 1 of the competition. Warm ups went well and nerves were kicking in as we walked on deck. Before we knew it the announcer called out

“And from Las Vegas, Nevada, Pride Athletic Champions.”

The cheers began, and that’s when we all ran out to the floor and got set in our first position. The crowd was dark like the night sea and the spot lights on us, so bright that the glitter on our bows sparkled. Our uniforms, black, blue, and gold perfectly formed to our little bodies! With our every move, the silver rhinestones outlining the initials PAC that shined bright. Here we go, I thought as the music started. Before I knew it I had hit all my stunts, tumbling passes, and jumps. That was it! The music ended and we all came together on the mat, jumping up and down, sweating running down our faces, and celebrating the perfect routine we just had.

“One day down, one to go girls” my coach said to us as we left the arena. Sleeping that night was almost impossible but my body and mind really needed it.

            Day 2 started off well! Again, we had a great warm up and another successful routine. So much weight was lifted off our shoulders as our coach praised us for all the hard work and dedication that we knew finally paid off. At this point all we could do was sit and eagerly wait for awards. Time couldn’t go by fast enough for my team and me! Finally all the teams are called to the mat, now it was time to find out if all these months of training paid off.  We will also know each teams ranking worldwide. 5^th place, really? I thought to myself as tears were being shed from girls all around me. We met up with our coach after the conclusion of the award ceremony and she said something that I will never forget. She gathered us around so we were all hand in hand and said

“Girls, I couldn’t be more proud of you. I know these aren’t the results we wanted, but I’ve seen so much growth in each and every one of you. Not only with your skill level, but also with your maturity and love for one another. I couldn’t have asked for a better group of young women to represent my gym. I love you all so much, now go have fun at Disney and I’ll see you at practice next week!” 

We finished off the trip with a few fun days in Disney World!

            Last Christmas, my good friend from that team met up with me for lunch.

“Gabby! I yell as I run up to my old friend, jumping and getting gitty thinking about all we have to catch up on.

“Mackie, how have you been? I miss seeing you everyday at practice.” Gabby replied

“I know me too! I miss those long practices and endless laughter we used to have with the team”

“Me too! I would have never guessed back then that I would want to relive those moments to bad.”

“Seriously those were the days! Our only worry was if our full-ups, and two-to-fulls were going to stick! haha”

Our little dinner date went on for a while when we realized the restaurant was waiting for us to close up. It’s crazy how much I miss those days.

            

Look Sister Steadman... NO hands!

Research blog!!!!

Changes in research paper

When I was first given this assignment, I initially thought of doing it on World War II. I was going to write about German fighter pilots because my great grandfather died in combat. This subject was very interesting to me but the only thing I didn't really like was that I had no family members to talk to about it because my grandmother (daughter of the German fighter pilot) was very young when he died. I keeper asking questions to my grandma about her past living in Germany when I realized that one of the most important things in my family history was my grandmothers immigration to the united states after WWII. She was young when this happened but surprising she remembered tiny details about what she went through and how she was effected. This change in topic made it way easier for me to write because it was closer to me and it is interesting to read about some of the things my grandmother went through.


Dialog between me and my dad about my grandmother (his mom) immigrating to America. 

What was Omie's biggest struggle in America?
- Based on what she said, her biggest struggle was the language barrier. She was going to school in a place with all Americans that spoke english and she could only speak German. She faced bullying and being called a nazi because of the fact that the war just ended and she was German. Even though she was young and didnt fully understand what was going on, she was still a victim.

what other problems were going on at the time for immigrants?
- Lots of issues were erupting for German immigrants because of the simply fact that majority of Americans had this idea of what a bad country Germany was. Yes, Germany was the country that posed the most issues during the war, but not every German was involved in that side of things. My grandmother said even though her father was a pilot in the war, he was not a nazi! Im not sure what exactly he was but I do know my grandma was so young when that war happened that she was not against the jews or following Hitlers teachings.


Well it seems to me that...