We all fear of losing. Not only does it hurt, a feeling of bitterness and regret overflows your thinking, giving your mind uncontrollable actions and thoughts. Yes, this was the feeling I felt when we lost the cheer dance competition.
I was a person who prefers to stay in the bench or the sides, cheering our division and just shouting and screaming when our division performs. I never wanted to do something tiring, of the fear of losing and being blamed at.
But all that changed this year. Days before I was to book my flight to Japan, the school announced that our intramurals will be held on the 28th-31st of August. As an aspiring leader and an officer of our division, I was motivated to contribute something to our division. To add the motivation, my mom decided to book my flight on the 29th, since she said I have to have time to adjust in Japan before I move to the dorms, which will be on the 31st. One day to help, what could you give?
Our university holds the cheer dance competition as the first event, since it's what people wanted to see the most. And since I'm not the athletic type to play major games, and since they were in need of males as lifters and all, I decided to join the team.
Practice was deadly. We only had 14 days to practice and master the whole routine. To add to the heat, the other divisions have already completed their routines (we have four divisions: Humanities, Sciences, Social Sciences, and Management --> that's where I am). Practice was from 5:30pm to 9/11pm on weekdays, whole day on weekends. Everyone was motivated to win, scared to lose, and ready for the challenge.
I had zero skills at first. I didn't know how to lift, roll, dance, jump, everything. I felt left out at first and I had self-pity. But that didn't stop me from the challenge. I challenged myself to be someone reliable and someone who will stand out.
In the first few days of practice, where I still didn't know any skills, our Kuya Adrian was showing off his scorpion move to the females (only girls had to do this). I was assigned to do a cartwheel, and I sucked at it. Practicing at my cartwheel, A thought came to my mind: since I wanted to stand out, why not do a scorpion? So that night I stretched my arm and legs at their full capacity, and alas, I did it! It really gave me a boost. And what's more, I get to perform it in the competition! If I could do this move, I'm sure to do the rest. So I, with the rest of the team, worked really hard until the last day of practice. (The picture is how a scorpion is supposed to be executed).
Intramurals day 1: Cheerdance competition in a few hours. I was nerve-wracked. Everyone was anxious. We had to win, since the cheer dance team in our division was winning the title for 4 years. And it would be a great insult if we were to lose. Even before the competition, I was already hyperventilating of nervousness, but thank God we were able to do our routine without any mistakes or injuries. We were happy with out performance, and we wanted to win. But at the announcement of the results, we came 3rd. 3rd. A straight drop from our champion title. It was painful. Everyone was crying. I felt like a failure. The only thing I could contribute was in the cheerdance, and I failed to give my all. Well that's how I felt. But Ate Rhoda (our choreographer) was really proud of us, and that made me really happy. After our emotional moments, we got over it and continue to move on, side that's how life is supposed to be.
I learned a lot from this experience. I learned how to dance, to lift, to cheer, and to manage my time. I also gained a lot of friends, and a NEW family. We may have lost, but we're determined to reclaim our title next year. T-Y-C-O-O-N-S!!
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