... to bring the bows and poms out of retirement!
When I decided to become an SPU Falcon, I knew my new school would have everything I wanted; small classes, professors and a large portion of the student body who would share my faith, a world class Christian education, and a great campus community. The only thing that was missing was the opportunity to cheer. I fell in love with cheerleading in high school and I was disappointed that I would not have the opportunity to pursue my passion collegiately. However, I knew, after much deliberation and, most importantly, prayer, that God was calling me to attend Seattle Pacific University. I prayed that if the opportunity presented itself that I would be able to have the opportunity to cheer again, but if not, that was alright too.
My first weekend at SPU, I thought that I would try out for the school's dance team, which seemed like a somewhat adequate alternative to cheerleading. Tryouts consisted of one day of instruction and one day of auditions. I went to day one, and the minute I stepped into the room, I knew it wasn't for me. Girls were doing pirouettes and plies and lots of other impressive skills that I couldn't pronounce. I left tryouts because I just was not, am not, and never will be a ballerina.
Soon after that, I discovered that there was a girl on my floor in my dorm who had been involved in cheerleading for ten years. Her name is Jordie Duncan. I approached Jordie with a wild and crazy idea: we were going to start a collegiate team here at SPU. The minute I told her, she burst into tears of joy, thrilled by the very notion that this was something to seriously look into.
I began writing, writing
a lot. I wrote waivers, tryout requirements, fundraiser proposals, a team constitution, a team plan and countless other documents. We emailed probably every student life and event and athletic coordinator on campus, and got a million "no way"'s before someone showed interest. We contacted the Event Management, Marketing, and Promotional leader in SPU's athletics department. She was intrigued by the idea, and impressed by all the work Jordie and I had put into planning for a team.
After months of waiting around for the go-ahead, we held and interest meeting, which 35 students attended, and began the hunt for another person to lead this team with Jordie and I. We selected Carrie McClellan as our third captain, which was an excellent choice. Carrie, a sophomore at SPU, had been involved in All-Star cheerleading for 14 years, and her experience really won us over.
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| Carrie (left) and I at SPU's first annual cheerleading tryouts |
About a month and a half after we met Carrie, we also found a coach! Coach Katie Olson, a 24 year old event coordinator, felt led to volunteer her time to SPU Cheer, which really made this dream of mine a reality.
On the weekend of April 6th, we held tryouts, ran by myself, Jordie, Carrie, Katie, and Kristen Moreland, a freshman at SPU who has a passion for cheer, but decided not to join the team (she felt God was calling her in a different direction, which is wonderful. I know He has an amazing plan for her life!). We had a total of 24 girls at tryouts and after much deliberation, we decided on a solid team of 14, including myself and my two co-captains.
Starting this team has been my greatest leadership accomplishment thus far. It has been way more work than I expected, but every minute I put into this team is more than worth it.
I would like to thank my big sister, Alexis for encouraging me to pursue my dream and my niece, Hailey for inspiring me to try to be a role model that is worthy of her. SPU Cheer will forever be indebted to you both for your prayers, encouragement and support.
So now, after giving you this tiny glimpse into my passion, I invite you to join me in this journey of leading the Seattle Pacific University Cheerleaders and making my mark at the school I love.
"But as for you, be strong and do not give up, for your work will be rewarded." 2 Chronicles 15:7
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