1. So. Many. Blisters.

And then having to bear it for the rest of practice.

2. Keeping your nails short.

No one is very envious of your mani.

3. Those moments when you catch the baton with your face.

So many black eyes and swollen noses.

4. Just getting hit in general.

Pain is just part of the game.

5. Having to go in public wearing stage makeup.

So many stares, but they're just jealous.

6. Catching a new trick

Practice actually does pay off.

7. Being able to say you twirl fire.

You're all about that fire life.

8. When someone asks how practice went.

Yet you can't wait to go back.

9. Practicing choreography in your head all the time.

And at all the wrong times like class or when driving.

10. When you get new tape and caps for your batons.

It's easy to forget how pretty they can be.

11. When you perform a routine with no drops.

Truly the greatest feeling ever.

12. Forming an unbreakable bond with your fellow twirlers.

It's almost impossible to not become a life long family.

13. When people say that it isn't a sport.

If they only knew how hard it actually is.