High School is full of ups and downs. Being involved in school sports can sometimes exaggerate them. There are plenty of wins and losses in sports and at the time it could seem like the biggest deal ever, but by the end of senior year those things aren’t as big as they seem and sometimes happen for a reason or could teach you a lesson.
Kylie has been involved in cheer for thirteen years. She started out with gymnastics first but her favorite part was the floor aspect. So her mom signed her up for cheer and she fell in love with it. “It gave me a challenge for myself and I made so many friends along the way”, Kylie states. In cheer, Kylie’s position is a base which can be hard on her body, but she just stays mentally tough. When she is under pressure she keeps to herself and is in her own zone to stay focused
to her calm. On the hard days she just thinks about where all her hard work will get her in the future so it motivates her. To stay on track and not mess up she tells herself “Don’t be that person that messes it up for the whole team so it just helps me do my best”.
As a result of learning all the skills that help her in cheer, she has made some great success already. Her favorite memory is when she won worlds for cheer. But before this she tore her ACL by doing a tumbling pass and landing on her knee. It took her nine months to recover from this injury and she had to get surgery in the process of healing. But as she looks back she thinks it was an obstacle that was supposed to be a part of her journey to grow. She thought she was done with cheer forever, but she got a call back to be on a team called lady lightning and that’s when she won worlds. “I felt relieved that all my hard work and dedication and tears paid off in the end.”
Another part of cheer that she loves is the friends she has made along the way. More specifically Emma Hansen. She started becoming close with her because of cheer and when they talked every practice they got really comfortable with each other. Emma’s favorite memory with Kylie is sharing a room with her for two years in a row. It made her feel less pressure for their state routine. Emma says that Kylie’s greatest quality is “Pushing people to keep going during the routine and being very persuasive to our teammates about not giving up”, Hansen states. Another one of her supporters that she looks up to is her Mom. She always goes to her competitions and cheers her up to get ready for the competition. Kylie is very inspired by her Mom’s drive and determination to do whatever she needs to do. “I just look up to that so much because I want to be like her when I grow up”, Kylie states.
Cheer has taught Kylie many things like being able to be mentally tough and work with other people. And that exercising makes your body easy to comply with cheer requirements. This knowledge and success will hopefully take her to cheer at Illinois State where she plans to go for college. Her major is still undecided but she is leaning towards forensic science.
Kylie’s hard work and accomplishments will stick with her for the rest of her career. She has great plans for her future but will also be sad to say goodbye to her upcoming past as being a cheerleader for the bulldogs. Hope you enjoy your new beginning Kylie!