We all had a certain idea in our head of what high school cheerleading was going to be like when we first tried out. It was going to be our key to making friends, wearing cute uniforms to school, and being involved. It was going to be our hobby that took up every Friday night during football and basketball season, and some week nights for soccer games and girls basketball games. Looking back, here are some thoughts that an ex-high school cheerleader has had at least once in their four years of high school cheer.
1. Nothing made you more frustrated than when the quietest person on the squad called a cheer and no one could hear it.
2. You wished being a cheerleader would give you instant popularity, but unfortunately, that only happens in the movies.
And no, two-piece crop top uniforms were never an option. It didn't matter how hard you begged.
3. You dreaded having to wear your uniform to school because that meant you had to put in effort on your hair and makeup.
4. Six a.m. practices before school the week of homecoming or pep rallies were the death of you, and we will just leave it that you probably made up for the loss of sleep in your Algebra class later that day.
5. If your stunt did not hit, no one was happy.
6. Everyone's favorite part of routines was the dance portion.
7. Why can't I tumble!?!
8. You probably also spent endless amounts of money on tumbling lessons that may or may not have paid off.
8. "My shoes are falling apart."
9. You cannot be a cheerleader without having at least one itchy uniform.
10. It was cold outside, at times, and only the flyers had to take their pants off to stunt (still bitter).
11. When the clock gets down to two minutes before halftime, anxiety is at a total high.
12. You about died when your back spot got a bloody nose from the flyer coming down wrong.
13. You also about died when you had to do pushups for dropping the flyer when she came down wrong.
14. You always had to fix your bow because if it didn't sit right on your head, it messed up your whole uniform.
15. When another school had the same cheer as you, you already knew you had to do the same one next, but 10 times louder.
16. Whenever a stunt dropped, you blamed it on the flyer.
17. All-star cheerleaders will forever think they are better than us -- 'cause they are.
18. Homecoming week gave you grey hairs.
19. Tryouts gave you worse anxiety than having to present a project in front of class. If you were like me, you might have cried out of sadness and/or relief after your senior year tryout.
20. If you were having an extremely bad day, the biggest struggle was to look like a psycho happy person who wanted nothing more than to be cheering in front of your crowd.
21. You wished your high school cheerleading experience was like Bring It On.
22. When your camp clothes came in, it was like Christmas morning.
23. The best part of cheer camp was getting to stay in the college dorms with all your teammates. And the food. Especially the buffet of pizza, fries, and ice cream.
24. You acted 10 times more excited about every little thing at cheer camp.
25. You got offended if your squad didn't receive a spirit stick for even just one day. And if you did receive one, it was always fun to steal JV's and spray silly string at them just so they had to do embarrassing things onstage the next day.
26. Being named captain your senior year was like your all time biggest accomplishment. You cannot top that. Actually, let's hope you can.
27. The end of the year banquet video always made you tear up.
28. Your team and their quirky, but fun, personalities got weirder and more entertaining with each year that you cheered together.
29. You obviously feared demerits.
30. You probably accidentally talked too much during a game and your coach benched you for the rest of it.
31. But on the bright side, your coaches were a part of the team, too, and became good friends of yours.
32. You might have had pre-game traditions, such as going with the girls you ride with to get Monster energy drinks, that hadto happen before every game in order for you to perform to the best of your ability.
33. You loved doing chants on the sidelines, but you absolutely lived for the thrill of performing halftime routines.
34. Cheer parties were the best parties.
35. Some of the tanks and clothes you had to wear had the weirdest, most obnoxious sayings on them, or they might have just looked ugly. What can I say -- WE LOVE ORANGE! WE WE LOVE ORANGE!
36. You had to have a different colored bow to match every event, game, organization, or charity that you cheered for.
37. Junior cheer camp was the most exhausting week, but also the most fun week. Who doesn't love having a bunch of little girls follow you around like you are a celebrity?
38. Bus rides to away games were just an excuse for someone to bring their wireless speakers and for the whole team to put on a concert for the bus driver.
39. Your “mini-me" on the team will be one of the most understanding, caring, and greatest friends you will ever meet in your life. She won't forget about you even when you move away for college. She's also the one who will make you cry the hardest at your last event as a cheerleader and the first person to hug you when you come back to visit the following season.
40. Your parents complained about how expensive it was to cheer, but they still came to every game to support you.
41. You looked forward to Senior Night for three whole years just so you could get your Senior Night shirt and sash and get your locker decorated by an underclassmen.
42. Buying your football and soccer players Gatorade and candy for every game broke the bank, but it was worth it for a couple of your best guy friends.
43. The day you got sized and ordered new uniforms is life-changing.
44. But what's even more life-changing are the friendships and memories you take away from those four years as a high school cheerleader.
