Been here all along

When I was getting close to becoming a freshman in high school, the school held tryouts for JV cheerleaders. For as long as I could remember (not that I had been alive for very long), I had wanted to be a cheerleader. So even though my parents weren’t thrilled about it, I put my name on the list to try out. I went to school that entire week an hour and a half early and stayed after another hour for cheer camp.

I could do the splits, I could do the cheers, I could dance and of course I had the voice that could shatter the ear drums of those even on the very back row of the bleachers. Despite my best effort, I didn’t even make the first cut. I was devastated, but still went back to the next couple of sets of tryouts that next week to cheer on all of my friends that made it through the second and third cuts and made the team. I couldn’t have been happier for them. Even though my friends encouraged me to tryout that next year, my eyes had been opened a bit to the reality of some things that I wasn’t aware of the year before . . . or maybe didn’t want to be aware of is a better statement.

I loved high school. Actually I loved all levels of school. I can understand why people disliked both junior high and high school, but I enjoyed both and escaped both fairly unscathed. Through my life as I have had this discussion with people I have realized that it probably worked for me for me because I was such an anomaly.

First off, my family moved the summer before my seventh grade year started. Now that is not much different than a lot of people, however it was where we moved that made it different. We moved onto Dixie College campus so that my parents could be the resident managers. I believe that automatically gave me “cool” points which only became increasingly “cooler” the further into high school that we got. With the guys it was because I not only knew who all the athletes and coaches were, but they were my friends. With the girls, well I was always with the college guys, need I say more. To me, it was just a part of my everyday life and I don’t think that this was even the biggest factor.

I am a people person. Maybe because of where I was raised or, more than likely by whom I was raised, I appreciate people for who they are not for a few of the decisions that they make in their life. As I look back I didn’t really have a “best friend” in high school. I wasn’t involved any one of the “cliques”. I can’t even begin to imagine what people thought of me since I was all over the different social circles. I went from going to seminary one hour to hanging out with the “stoners” out in the bushes the next. I went from going to lunch with the cheerleaders to sitting in the back of the classroom with the class clowns. There wasn’t a group or person that I wasn’t willing to be friends with because I didn’t care what other people thought. My belief is that everyone is innately good if given the chance.

From the whole cheerleading tryout failure, I learned to take loss of a dream with excitement for those around me that do obtain it. I like to believe that it wouldn’t have mattered and I still would have had the same experience in high school had I made the cheerleading squad, but that is something that I will never know. There are other dreams that it is time to wrap them up and put them away. I know how to do this.