Dedicating My Life to a Killer...

Today, I thought I might return to the wonderful world of cheerleading!!!

One of the cheerleaders on my team posted this (or, rather, a picture of something saying this) to twitter today, and I think it pretty much summed up cheerleading for me. The quote is:

You know, sometimes to get over mental blocks you just need to throw it.

Hell, there may be a 90% chance you eat sh**. 

But, doing it once shows you you can. It shows you that "Oh, that's the worst that can happen?"

Then, you throw it again and that 90% becomes 80%, then 70% until you get that one where you stick. 

And you forget about all the falls before. The tears of frustration you cried. 

All from just throwing it once.

Sum up the courage.

Pull up your spandex.

Hit the gym. 

And just do it. It's the only way.

I can't make you do tumble. Your mom can't make you tumble. Your coach can't.

Tumbling is all on you. 

It's about how badly you want it. It's about learning to land on your face and do it again.

Cheerleading, especially tumbling, has increased my awareness of my strengths and areas for growth (not even just in cheer, either). I learned very early on that I was almost exclusively designed to be a cheerleader. I couldn't do ballet, and in gymnastics the only apparatus I even halfway excelled at was the floor. When I joined cheer, it was like I had found my one true sport. The best thing about cheering was finding that I had (and still have) a great mental fortitude. Even when the routine makes my lungs ache, and my body wants to stop, I have always willed my body to push harder, try more, do better. This, I think, is my greatest strength, both when it comes to cheer and the world beyond. When everything tells me I should quit and take what I can get, I will myself to keep going, no matter the cost to my mind or body. 

In a way, though, this is also one of my weaknesses. I don't know when to stop. For cheerleading, I will push my mind and body to the very edge, over and over again, every day, no matter what. I love the sport too much to stop what I'm doing. And, when I don't slow down to see the repercussions my intensity is having, I end up hurt. At the end of December, I kept pushing myself, even though I was already tired out, and I ended up spraining my ankle so badly I couldn't walk for three days, and it took weeks after that for me to even have normal function again. Even now I am still recovering. So, my greatest strength also happens to be my greatest weakness. 

Without cheerleading, I don't think I could have ever learned this about myself, because nothing else I do tests me in the way cheerleading has. Truly, my sport has helped me to see the good and bad of myself, and has forced me to reconcile myself with the fact that I will never be able to change this aspect of myself, because I love the sport too much. Even if I knew that years down the road I would have this lasting injury, or that lasting injury, I would still keep cheering until I couldn't physically manage the intensity anymore. 

In that respect, I suppose I could also say that one of the strengths cheerleading has given me is my obscenely overwhelming and sometimes irrational love for the sport, and capacity to love in general. I could never stop cheering, and I won't until I'm forced to. I have been a cheerleader for ten years, and I don't think it's possible to stop being something that has defined every aspect of who I am for so long. Even when I can't cheer anymore, I will always be a cheerleader. So, cheerleading has also strengthened my ability to love. I love people the same way I love cheer, withe fiery passion and unparalleled dedication. I will do anything for my best friends, and I will do anything for cheerleading, no matter the cost (unless, of course, the cost is some sort of crime. I'm less cool with that). 

So, on that note, I think I'm done for tonight. If the mood so suits you, lets have some comments about activities that have helped you to grow and learn about yourself, or activities you love with the fiery passion of a thousand suns, yes??

Have a fantastic day!!

Jordy

We Are the Ambassadors of the World

Hello, again!

So, today, I was able to use my Peer Ambassador skills to show a transfer student around the school, and I realized what a perfect opportunity it presented for discussing the impact Peer Ambassadors has had on my life.

Peer Ambassadors is essentially a club of juniors and seniors who help to acclimate new students (whether they are transfers or freshmen) into the Loveland High School community. We also give presentations throughout the year about teen dating violence prevention to the health classes at LHS. I definitely try to really reflect on my actions as a Peer Ambassador, especially since what I say or do when I'm giving a tour or a presentation can come across in many different ways. Personally, I think this fits well into learning objective seven: considering ethical implications of my actions.

While I haven't encountered any glaring moral issues participating in Peer Ambassadors, I do feel strongly that the actions we (as a club) exhibit demonstrate the values of both the club as a whole and the individuals within. As such, I try especially hard to put forth an attitude of helpfulness and positivity when I am participating in an event for Peer Ambassadors. The more positive I am in an activity, the more positive the new students are going to be in the activity, and in the school. Therefore, my actions help to foster a positive environment throughout the school. For me, part of the ethical implications of being in any club or organization include whether or not the attitudes and actions of the participants contribute to a better environment for both the organization and the people affected by the organization. In that respect, I feel that I have succeeded both in considering the ethical implications of my actions as a Peer Ambassador, but I have also helped to make both the club and my school a more positive place.

Now, I know you probably want an example. How am I positive, how do I stay helpful? In reality, I try to simply exhibit these characteristics in my daily life, and they especialy come out in Peer Ambassador events because Peer Ambassadors is about helping others and being positive while doing so. As such, I don't have a specific example to provide. Whether I'm showing a student around the school, or helping someone find a class, I just try to be the kind of person that I would want to show me around if I were new and had no clue how to get where I needed to go. Call it the Golden Rule, if you will.

On that note, I'd like to say good day, because I have some insane studying to do for tomorrow :)

Have a lovely day!
Jordy

Honor, in the National Sense

Once again, it seems I must apologize for my extended absence. I've been swamped with school work and scholarships, so I haven't been able to fit in a few minutes to blog. Never fear, I plan to post every day for the next few weeks, so there will be no shortage of information, reflection, and reminiscing to read up on.

Today, I find myself in a rather patriotic and national mood, so I decided to talk a little bit about National Honor Society (I apologize to those of you who didn't follow how the two connect, it seems that kind of disconnect or randomness happens often in my train of thought). National Honor Society, according to the backside of my membership card, stands upon four tenants, if you will. These are: scholarship, leadership, service, and character. To me, National Honor Society is a place where the best and brightest people from my school can gather to engage in service for the community and have fun together. I know when I go to a meeting or attend a service activity that I am surrounded by people who understand me and my goals, and strive for similar goals themselves. In this context, I will be regarding NHS as a "service" aspect of CAS.

On to the learning outcome: showing perseverance and commitment in my activities. While I have done this for all of the activities I'll talk about on this blog, I feel I should talk about my perseverance, as it were, for NHS because of the work I have had to put in to make sure I would get all of my requirements to stay in the club. To remain a member of NHS at Loveland High, one must complete at least 20 hours of service, attend four of the monthly meetings, maintain a 3.7 GPA, and participate in at least four NHS sponsored activities. I know, it doesn't sound like a lot of work, but try factoring in the three other clubs, cheerleading, and the rest of my IB workload, it's difficult to make sure all the requirements are met. However, I have managed to maintain my status as an NHS member for the last three years, and I have lettered twice.

Even when it seemed like I could not possibly make it to one of the meetings, or one of the events I signed up for, I made it work, even taking on extra activities such as poster making or making the program for the talent show on my own time, so that I could make sure I would stay in the club. I feel that I have learned to overcome the obstacles that would try to bring me down, and instead I make said obstacles into something positive. When I commit to being at a service event, or say I will be at a meeting, I make sure to be there, and if I absolutely cannot be at the event, I make sure I let my club supervisor know ahead of time so someone else can fill my place. Being committed and persevering in my National Honor Society activities has helped me to learn life skills in the areas of time management and being true to commitments I make, regardless of other plans I might want to make, or other activities I might want to do more than the service activities.

Hope to see you all tomorrow for more rounds of reflection!!
Jordy

Lock and Key

As many of you may have figured out by this point in my blog, I am extremely active in volunteering. One of the ways in which I have been able to expand the volunteering experiences I can participate in has been Key Club. Key Club is a junior division of Kiwanis, and I have participated in it for the last three years.

Now, what we do in Key Club is radically different from what I have done in Invisible Children over the years. Rather than focusing on one conflict or area where service is needed, we instead spread out helping hand across the community. My favorite service activity though Key Club is definitely our annual exchange student Thanksgiving dinner. There is so much opportunity to learn about other cultures and people, in addition to opportunity to make friends.

Of all the learning outcomes, the activities I have participated in through Key Club have tested my ability to work collaboratively with others. Especially regarding the Thanksgiving dinner, I have had the opportunity to work with many different types of people. Through working with so many people, I have both learned about myself and others. Most importantly, I have learned that I am very willing to do extra work so other people are not inconvenienced when there is a lot of work to be had.

I see this characteristic of myself as both good and bad. For one, my disposition to help others at any cost will do me well in the medical field, because being in the medical field is all about service to others. However, on the flip-side, it could also make me susceptible to being used in situations where others want to get out of work. In all, I feel that working with others has helped me to learn to collaborate with a greater variety of people. Additionally, I have learned a lot about myself and how I interact with others in a volunteer situation.

That's all for now, I think. Everyone have a wonderful day!! Remember to be awesome!!

Jordy