Cheerleading Got Me To Hawaii
...hat happened that day. We also shopped at the famous Aloha Stadium Swap Meet. The old baseball stadium is now used as a giant flea market full of Hawaiian trinkets and tribal clothing to bring home to the family. My favorite stop was the Polynesian Cultural Center, where we had a real Hawaiian Luau and watched dancers from all different tribes doing their native dance. I don’t understand how their hips moved so fast, but it was amazing to watch with their little grass skirts. One guy at the center climbed a coconut tree with his bare feet and then smashed it open with a rock to drink the milk. Seeing how they worked and lived together everyday opened my eyes to a new, more exciting way of life. All of the sites and tours of the island, implanted a tropical heaven image in my mind that will last forever. There were girls from all over America that came together for the sake of cheerleading. Traveling as far as Maine and Florida, and across Rhode Island to Hawaii. The first morning, when everyone had arrived, we were gathered in the University’s gym for introduction to the camp. Our coaches introduced themselves with back-hand-springs, cheers and even stunts. We were then split up into smaller groups to get to know each other better. My group was called ‘The Hula Girls’, and my leader was the 2002 Tampa Bay Buccaneers Cheerleading Captain, Carla. There were girls I met who were hardcore cheerleaders. One girl Brittany could do a standing full back flip, which was something I had never seen before in person. Her body twisted around, upside down, and landed safely on the wood floor. This jaw-dropping trick really showed me what people are capable of doing when they practice. It inspired me to want to be able to do that and she told me that all I had to do was work hard. Other interesting people I met on the island were the native Hawaiians. The island to them was home and they were very humble and proud of their customs that they still follow today. While laying on the beaches of Waikiki, I was introduced to a young Hawaiian man named Kaihe. He taught me how to body surf on the beach and talked to me about growing up in Hawaii. He said that every day was an adventure and never a dull moment. One of his favorite things to do was cliff diving, which he made me do when we went to North Shore. I remember standing on the edge of the cliff waiting for the waves to move back to the sea as my heart shot out of my ribs. As I jumped off the ledge I realized that I had just conquered my fears and I was capable of anything if I just trusted myself and those around me. The funny thing was I forgot to keep my hands tightly to my sides and they slapped on the water. It stung like hell, but it had to be worth it because I went back up and jumped again. I couldn’t have imagined the interesting people I would come in contact with on my trip. Each of them affected my life emotionally and physically and gave me a new idea of friendship, culture and fun. It may seem like my trip was just a vacation, but the reason I went was to be a better captain. One thing I learned from the camp was how to work hard for something that I wanted my team and myself to achieve. It began with how I raised the money for the camp and continued with how to lead my team to win competitions and challenges we were faced with. We were sent to mandatory classes at night to go over tips for being captains and seniors on our teams. They taught us ways of going about things and how to take charge without being a di...