Tuesday, 17 June 2008

• Cheerleader or Band Geek: Which Are You?

  By Miss Double Shot
  
  My freshman and sophomore years of high school, I had to do band (parents' orders) but tried out for cheerleading every year anyway. If I'd just make the team, I could turn in my trumpet and totally unsexy band uniform for super-white sneakers and pompoms.
  
  I spent hours practicing in my backyard and doing private lessons with my gymnastics coach (high-V! low-V! T! broken-t! keep your arms straight! make your varsity higher and point your toes!), who assured me that this would finally be my year to cheer.
  
  I loved the idea of being a cheerleader. I wanted the uniform, the ponytail with ribbons that drooped just the right way down my back, the glitter and sparkles . . . everything.
  
  I had danced and done gymnastics for a long time and could out-tumble the other girls, but every year when I tried out, I never made the squad.
  
  Each year, after grueling tryouts, I'd go up to the school door with waning confidence, look at the list of those who made it, and look for my number, only to see that it wasn't there after all.
  
  
  
  I didn't make it.
  ...even the second time
  ...or the third time
  ...or the fourth
  
  It was around then that I realized that it wasn't meant to be - something in the universe had decided that I wasn't supposed to stand on the court yelling; I was supposed to be on the sideline playing Land of 1000 Dances for the five hundredth time. It was upsetting to think that something I'd wanted so badly - that would somehow change my personality for the better - was so unattainable despite my best efforts.
  
  And while I spent a fair amount of time watching the cheerleaders and thinking, "I could so do that handspring better than she could," I learned to love my fellow nerds and appreciate the merits of wearing wool instead of short skirts and spandex in ten degree weather. Band may not have been glamorous, but it was kind of fun.
  
  It could be a total coincidence, but my boyfriend is also a former band nerd - just like I was.  When I told him how badly I'd wanted to be a cheerleader back in the day, he laughed hysterically. "You? There's no way. That's not who you are."
  
  I think it's a good thing that I was never a cheerleader, because I don't think it would have ultimately made me who I am today . . . and I wouldn't have traded rides on the band bus and marching marathons for anything.
  
  In the greater scheme of things, are you a cheerleader/jock or a band geek? What about your significant other?
  

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