February 23, 2011

That Time I Was a Cheerleader...


When I was in middle school I was a cheerleader. For those who read regularly, this may come as a surprise because my normal demeanor, which I'm sure comes through in my writing, is not that of the cheerleader stereotype. That's not what's embarrassing. I loved it and I was f*ing good. I was even the captain one year... yeah

On game days, as you may have seen in your school or on TV, we were required to wear our uniforms during the school day to promote school spirit *cough* to make people aware there was a game that day and maybe get more people to go *cough*...
With things like that which make me stand out I always feel self-conscious and paranoid. Every game-day I would have the irrational fear that I had gotten the day wrong and there was no game and I would be the only one wearing my uniform.

I would walk to school in absolute terror that didn't subside until I saw one of my squad-mates (I'm not sure that's what they're called), also in uniform. Then I would go about the rest of my day feeling awesome because I actually loved my uniform when I wasn't terrified by it. 
One day, maybe a Thursday, but I really have no idea, I was feeling less paranoid than usual. I get to school in my uniform and feel fine until I start seeing the other girls. I ask one why she isn't in uniform.

The game had been canceled. Somehow, I was not informed of this. I think an announcement was made while I was in gym class where you can't hear announcements. I. Was. The. Only. One.

Well almost. Other girl didn't know either but she had sweatpants in her gym locker so she wore her gym clothes for the rest of the day. Me, no. I think my gym clothes consisted of boxer shorts or something, and therefore did not have anything appropriate that I could change into. 
I went through the rest of my day, people snickering at me because I was unnecessarily in my uniform. It may not have been such a problem if I wasn't already the favorite person for the "popular" girls to bully. 

It never happened again but I made sure to keep bring a pair of jeans with me every game-day for the rest of the basketball season.

9 comments :

  1. Aw that sucks. I always had the same problem. I was never in cheerleading, but I was in theater. And every opening day, our director asked us to wear our costumes at school. Not always such a big deal if we were in a play set in modern times. But dressing up in frilly dresses and gangster threads didn't make me feel too comfortable. It wasn't so bad in classes where I knew someone who was also in the show. But a lot of times it was just me and I was miserable.

    I hope it didn't scar you too much!

    I'm new to your blog! And I think your style is so cute and creative!

    http://simplykateweber.blogspot.com

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  2. Aw! There's nothing quite like being the only one doing something and everyone being able to tell. GAH. I've been there SO MANY TIMES.

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  3. In Glee the cheerleaders wear their uniforms all the time...

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  4. @Kate: it was rough for a while but I actually had forgotten about until I started thinking about my embarrassing moments. So no not too scarred.

    @Veggie Killer: glad to hear im not the only one!

    @Anon: Yeah I didn't go to school on a TV show AND all ALL the cheerios wear their uniforms everyday so no one feels retarded.

    @robofthesky: I graduated from high school. I was good for my squad,not so much for Penn State. I still miss it.

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  5. Pretty funny, surprised you got shit for it. They just jelly you were head cheer

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  6. What's funny is that, as an adult, this wouldn't have been an issue. Kids/Teenagers are just so unnecessarily mean. Pretty sure you looked great though and they just wished they hadn't known either. :-D

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  7. I bet with your awesome promotional skills a load of people showed up later on to see a game that wasn't even on :D

    New to your blog aswell, love it! Feel free to pop over and have a glance at mine too :)

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  8. @Archon: Haha maybe!

    @C: True, but even as an adult if something like that happened I'd be really self-conscious and embarrassed even if no one was a jerk about it.

    @SaucyCow: You're probably right! Thanks for the visit!

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