Cheerleading was so much more than just some after school activity to me, it was my life. I might not have always wanted to go to practice or events, but cheerleading taught me so many things. One of the biggest lessons it taught me was how to work as a team and to build a bond with your team. I hated going to cheer at basketball games, but I look back now and I would give anything to be able to cheer just one more time. I would do high school over again just to get the chance to put on that uniform and cheer our team to victory.

There are a million things I could thank you for, but for now, I will just thank you for a few.

Thank you for never letting me give up. You always pushed me to be the best I could be. You would tell me when I was doing something wrong or compliment me when I did something right. There were days I just wanted to walk out and be done, but you telling me I could do it made everything worth it. You didn't have to be there to coach and be away from your family, but you were.

Thank you for teaching me how to work with others. You showed me that cheerleading is so much more than a sport; it is a family. The bond the squad forms is strong. We might not have always gotten along, but at the end of the day, we were a family. We were sisters. I met some of my best friends at cheerleading. We might not talk very much now, but at the time, we were the best of friends and I am thankful for those memories.

Thank you for never letting us fail, or fall at that -- literally. You told us we could do it even when we were all worn out and over everything. When we all wanted to just be done with competition, you pushed us and told us we could do it, we just needed a little more practice. You made practices fun. I will never forget the days we would all just bust up laughing because of something you or one of us did.

Thank you for taking time away from your family to be with us and to teach us. You didn't have to take that time, but you did. You cared enough about us to spend endless hours with us, pretty much everyday of the week. You even had sleepovers with us. Your family basically became part of out cheer family and they were all so welcoming.

Most of all, thank you for just being you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

To most, cheerleading is just some simple activity, but to me, it is a challenging sport.

To those of you who still have the chance to cheer, enjoy every minute of it because when it's gone, you'll want nothing more than to do it all over again. Go out there and give it your everything. Cheer your heart out.