Go for Gold

"Aiming to win in a competition is a good thing. However, there would always be separate feelings between being a spectator as well as a supporter and being a participant yourself."

Inasmuch as I wanted our college to win in the Cheering Squad, I still cannot disregard the preparation of the other colleges. I know all of us are aiming to win, considering the many tedious mornings and afternoons spent just for the routines to be mastered, to the point of making it a natural rhythm already. I know it wasn't only our college who thought Cheering Squad is only simple and easy to memorize yet realized that one needs to have the talent, patience, persistence, and discipline in order to attain that level of perfection. And that level of perfection, as far as the performances I saw last year and the videos I reviewed on YouTube are concerned, has not been reached yet. There would always be glitches, late turns, mistaken actions, wrong alignments, defective props, and distractive audience boos. Nobody seemed to care anyhow. What they wanted are the energetic yells from their colleges and the not-so-obvious-they-committed-a-mistake-on-that-part routine. I know how often other squad members are scolded by their instructors for misbehavior and slow memorization of the actions. I know how, at the end of the day, they all look flustered, livid and weak, just as how Death Eaters suck good memories out of their preys. I know how intimidated yet challenged they are upon hearing comparisons between their performance during practices and other colleges'; so similar to how we felt the moment we heard that other squad teams are doing well while we are still having a hard time moving our heads from one direction to the other together and struggling to maintain power and persistence from the beginning to the end. I know, right? :D

I tried to calm down during our rehearsal but as the time slowly consumed our moments of rest on the bleachers, my heart began to thump. Fifteen minutes of executing the entrance formation, the marching synchronization, and the exit seemed very small for us to make it errorless. And though many were watching coming from other colleges and squad teams, we still managed to get applauses from them. Maybe it was some sort of discrimination for not having a smooth-flowing entrance and exit, or perhaps an encouragement, that although we had countless mistakes during the rehearsal, we still kept our smiling attitude apparent to the crowd, or maybe, just maybe, we really have shown our edge already to them.

This isn't bragging. This isn't saying that we will defeat the defending champion, College of Arts and Sciences, or the potent College of Tourism and Hospitality Management. They are good, many said, far better than our performance and power. I even have reservations on how our ending would turn out with those unsatisfying and damaged-na-wa-pa-gane-competition "seedlings."But many are saying, " Stay strong. Stay positive. Kaya nato ni."

We only have a few more hours before the big body painting day and competition gala. We still have one more final practice session. We still have a few more moments of bonding as a Teacher team. And if it would mean win or lose at the end, no amount of trophies or plaques or cash prices could surpass the experience of getting nervous and yelling for five minutes with synchronization and beauty to a large bunch of judgmental crowd.