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Sunday 19 July 2015

Graduation


The time has finally come for me to graduate! And it feels so weird saying so. My graduation time was at 4:30 but we had to be there an hour and a quarter before so we had enough time to be robed and have our professional photos done.

When we arrived it felt so surreal to see all my friends and classmates in their gowns and mortarboards already. We all said our ‘Hello’s’ and hugged and had photos taken by our parents and family members. My dad took some really nice ‘in-between’ shots to show the real emotion of the day!

It was SO hot this day, and the gowns were really thick so I was struggling a little bit but it was such a lovely day.

I also received my Full Colours for my contribution towards Cheerleading so I was really pleased. After we had some photos done I decided to get my professional photograph taken, so my parents and I headed in to get them done before we had to be seated in the Chapel.

The photographer was really nice and allowed us to take our own photos as well as his. He sorted out my gown, my hat and even my hair (he went all out to make sure I had a nice photo).

Just before we had to go up to get our award I was so scared. I was the first one to be called so it was really frightening! Luckily Jade took some nice pictures of me during my moment!

Overall it was an extremely beautiful day, it was so nice to share the experience with my parents and I hope they’re proud.

Friday 10 July 2015

COMPETITION TIME

At the end of June the Mermaids headed to Stratford to compete in our last competition of the academic year. Everyone was nervous but we were prepared. This was the very first competition where I wasn’t nervous and was actually excited to compete! It was also the first competition where I was flying, as opposed to basing.

The routine was creative, we knew it like the back of our hands, so we were all confident.

When we arrived, the atmosphere was amazing, we all received our ‘athlete’ wristbands and went to take a look at the arena. The stage was big, although smaller than some we’ve competed on, and the lighting on the stage was dramatic which helped with the overall feeling of the competition. The seating was tiered and went up quite high so it was quite daunting I’m not gonna lie!!! Everyone was walking about in their uniforms with their hair and makeup ready for their routine.

As we looked around we saw soooooo much merchandise. There were tons of bows in all different colours with loads of different patterns including glitter (there was a load of glitter). There were also loads of cheer tops and sweaters, and a lot of Nike clothing too.

When we went backstage to warm up, that was when the nerves kicked in. We saw other squads practising their routines and were cheering on others as they completed a full out. We stretched, practised jumps, stunts, tumbling and warmed up so we didn’t injure ourselves (although this didn’t work for me (!!!!) unfortunately).

Then it was our time to compete and showcase our routine to the judges. It was exhilarating and the feeling was incredible. Going out there and competing with great people is an amazing feeling. We worked hard together in order to make the routine look good, and luckily we had no stunt falls or bobbles!!
Unfortunately, at the beginning of the routine, I came down funny from a stunt and twisted my ankle which was very painful. But I had to carry on! I wasn’t going to let my team down just because of a sprained ankle. Although its still very painful and swollen I had to carry on for my squad. It’s been 3 weeks now and it still hasn’t healed so hopefully it does soon!

I had an amazing last competition, and can’t wait to be reunited with my squad in September!