Sports give students new found confidence, that they feel like a new person that’s striving for excellence.
As Bella and I sat down and had our sport’s interview, I recently noticed one framed picture displayed on her desk. In the picture, she was smiling proudly, holding a bouquet of sunflowers, matching her bright yellow cheer uniform. As a Tallwood High School Alum, Bella Abruzzase reflected on her experience as a lifelong cheerleader, and the impact it had on her growing up.
“It was definitely tough,” she recalled. “Physically and mentally. It was fun but it was a lot to put myself through.”
“Do you ever feel like being a cheerleader changed you as a person?” I asked. Bella’s extroverted, amiable nature is typical of a high school cheerleader in media, and I wondered if her participation was a cause or effect of her personality.
She explained, “When I was a kid, I was painfully shy. But being on a team with like minded individuals who want to see you do good and improve really affects the way you perceive the world. I made a lot of friends with girls that I admired. I came out of my shell and started to open up and reach out to strangers and now I feel like I can talk to anybody!”
She recalled a few anecdotes from Tallwood where she communicated beyond where her comfort zone formerly lie, and explained that with her new found confidence, she felt like a new person.
“Do you think this is something that happens to a lot of athletes?” I asked. “They are shy, but they get on a team and eventually make friends?”
“It’s almost inevitable,” Bella grinned. “When you’re on a team, your goal is to work together to achieve something. It’s really hard to do that when you don’t have relationships with the people you play with. Relationships indicate trust, communication, and effort. If you don’t trust, communicate with, and put effort forth with your teammates, your team is probably going to suck,”
“I can’t put that in the article,” I giggled.
“But you agree?” she asked, eyes bright.
And I do. So Bella and I finished our conversation, and she referenced another framed picture on her desk. It was a quote, scrawled in gold that read, “She believed she could, so she did.” By Amanda Howard