When I tried out for cheerleading in eighth grade against what everyone else told me, my intention was to prove certain people wrong. This was a pretty expensive way to prove to myself and many others that I could do this. I wanted people to think of me in a different light than a basketball player; a sport that screams masculinity stereotypically speaking. Yet, being very young, I went for the option that seemed very attractive at the moment. Cheerleading.
Tryout material came quite easily to me, so making the team was fun to hear, but did not put me over the moon like I had recently thought it would. With the help of one of my extremely gifted and talented friends, I was able to gain a lot of knowledge and ability before the time of tryouts. Yet, my parents were not happy about this at all. Every day, night, and hour they tried to talk me out of cheerleading. I completely understood their reasoning behind this; I have been playing basketball since I was a little third grader. Yet, everyday, I pleaded my case why they should leave me there and I can start up basketball sophomore year which would have ended being a mistake in itself.
‘Maybe going to Austin for camp and coming back will make them understand why I really want to do this.’ So this is exactly what I did. By the end of July, the Lewisville High School cheerleading team, ranging from freshmen to varsity, took two coach buses to Austin, Texas at 4:30 a.m.
The idea of going to Austin without my parents for multiple days really made me excited. This would be my first official taste of freedom at the tender, yet mature age of 12. For some reason, I had thought this trip would be an enlightening experience and I would come back a new person. My theory was completely wrong, camp was anything but the freedom I was hoping for and the only enlightenment I received was that I should be doing something else.
The first few days were full of painful experiences, mentally and physically speaking. We had received the luxury staying in the football bubble that felt about 200 degrees Fahrenheit inside. The bubble was worse with the help of the fans inside that were blowing around hot air. This heat becomes a burden if you are supposed to be engaging in athletic activity. If that was not bad enough, we had to be with about twenty teams for twelve hours. These people never seem to break character, always happy and irritating. I like being around happy people, but if I feel like my brain is frying, I do not want to hear it. At all.
By this time, I really was not enjoying this trip at all. The best part was actually being in the presence of the University of Texas football players who interrupted our camp with their drills in the bubble. The football players are so much bigger in person, and better looking.

Then I had a realization in the middle of practice a day before peeformances. Why am I here right now, I do not belong here. When I thought I knew the answer to the question at first, I realized my answer made no sense. Why am I learning a completely different activity when I already know how to play basketball pretty well? In basketball, I never have to lift people or deal with excessive fluctuating of the environmental temperatures or conditions. Almost everyone here has been working for this and wants to do this in college; to me this is just for fun, or began to be seen as a waste of time that I will never get back. Maybe the excessive heat in the bubble got me thinking. A sport or activity does not define me, I define myself. Coming to this conclusion, I knew what I should do when I get home.
When camp ended, I had never been so excited to come back to Lewisville, Texas in my entire life. I was ready to sleep in my own bed and watch television which I had been deprived of for four days. I had talked to my parents about this looking for guidance and I have never seen them so happy to allow me to quit an activity that they spent that much money for. Although the pros outweighed the cons for me quitting, I felt guilty. Meaning that the team would have one less member, but I have to think of myself in this case and what will be best for me. This process took me until mid September to come to peace with. When I finally did, I felt good about it. Basketball was where I belonged all along.