Senior Leader

I was on my high school cheerleader team for three years, Sophomore-Senior year. I had been cheering since I was nine years old so when I didn’t make the team my freshman year I was beyond disappointed. I was upset for weeks and worst of all it wasn’t even based on my skills, it was all politics. When I made the team my sophomore year I was ecstatic! Coach Moir was a 22 year old English teacher at our school who had been cheering for over 15 years. She was beyond qualified and really turned our team around from what it used to be. But my junior year she quit for personal reasons and she was replaced with a “chaperone” coach with no experience in cheerleading. The captains turned into our coaches our junior year and it was just chaos taking full direction from our peers and none from our actual coach. My senior year, our “chaperone” coach quit and was now replaced by Coach Judy. She was nowhere near as qualified as Coach Moir but she knew what she was doing and did get our team back on the right track.

It came time to choose captains and I had really proven myself as a leader. When I didn’t get the position it was like my freshman year all over again, I was really upset because I knew how great I would have been and I had so many ideas for the team. The two captains chosen knew how upset I was and decided to make a position for me. I was the “Senior Leader” of the team. I was in charge of the team along with the captains, just without the title. I really did enjoy the position of senior leader, but I was still upset throughout the year that I did not earn the actual title as captain. Either way, being a leader of the team really changed me as a person. Cheerleading was my life in high school and I was 100% dedicated to my team. Even though I did not earn the title as captain, I was still a leader and my teammates still looked up to and respected me. My position taught me a lot about responsibility and commitment and I was honored to earn that title as “senior leader” from my peers.