How Do You Cheer Like That?

I get asked a lot "How do you cheer like that?" "Why do you cheer like that?" And I have decided to address the question, full on.

I am not cheering for just our football or basketball teams. I'm just not. Yes, they are great and school spirit is the most rockin' thing ever. It brings people together and it just really make high school great. But I don't cheer just cause #school_spirit

I cheer for the outcast kid who doesn't think that they can. I cheer for the kid who is in a dark place and feels trapped. I cheer for the kid who is maybe not even at the game because they have work, or responsibility. I cheer for the kid whos grades don't get up to par every time. For the kid on the sidelines, thinking "I couldn't do that". For the kid who feels useless and small. For the kid that thinks they are too shy.

I cheer because there are kids in the world that feel like they don't have voices. Because they are shoved in the darkness by others, and are not allowed to prove that they can do something amazing. I'm just one kid. I'm just Georgia. Just one Georgia, but I can make a difference. I may be just one light. Maybe I can be the flashlight you need though. Whenever I start to feel tired, I start to want to sit down and stop. I just remember. I'm making a difference. 

You can make a difference too! We can all be flashlights, lighting the world together. Light up. You do have a voice. I know this was a shorter blog post, but I feel like sometimes I use a lot of words to say nothing. 





If you have questions, comments, remarks, opinions, anything. Let me know. 

Puzzle of Pieces

The other day, we started this project in school. Its an extremely  cool project, and I highly suggest you check it out. Its called the "Puzzle Art Project". And this guy, he sends out puzzle pieces that are pretty big, to classrooms and he does workshops, and its a world wide thing. His name is Tim Kelly, and my teacher, Maria, got a hold of him, and each kid in our class got a puzzle piece. 

When Maria handed me my piece, words poured all over my brain. So many inspiring things, things that stirred something within me. Pretty soon, I had nothing on my puzzle piece, and I looked around at my classmates pieces. 

I go to an artistically inclined school. 

I couldn't believe the art that was on these little white puzzle pieces! I wish I had pictures to show you. I was honestly in awe. I looked down at my blank piece, and it kinda just hit me. 

I am no artist. I have nothing to share with the world. 

My handwriting sucks, I can't draw anything except stick trees. No brilliant colors. Heck, the idea of the commitment of putting paint on this thing was horrifying! I was supposed to inspire the world with this, no? 

Well actually, no. My individual piece was going to a bigger puzzle, a puzzle that covered tons of walls in New York City. THAT was going to inspire the world. I did a lot of thinking on my previous statement. I knew it wasn't true that I had nothing to offer. I mean. I am full of spunk and passion and I'm constantly being enlightened. So what the heck was I thinking? I had nothing to offer? 

To tell you the truth, my puzzle piece is kinda lame. I painted the whole piece black, and only used electric blue for color. I have "Grow" written in a bottom cover. A stick tree is spread across the rest of the puzzle piece. My handwriting is nothing to be in awe of, when its hung, you cant even read it. There is nothing cool about it, and there is nothing so profound about it that it will inspire a million hearts and revolutionize the world.  

Nah. It looks like 5th grade me would have created. I don't know why I was putting so much pressure on this. Why am I so eager to impress, to wow, to inspire people? Why did I think I needed this puzzle piece to do that? As I thought about it more and more, it kinda came to me.
The Puzzle Art Project does not exist so that one person individually can change the world. It exists so that we, as a country. As a world, one united body, can stand together on a wall, shining. America is known as a melting pot. So much culture, so many different people and customs and passions and everything. Every single thing is different. Two of us might be passionate about words, but we are going to be different. We will never be the same. Yet we can be United. It kinda slowly dawned on me the magnitude of this whole thing. 

One person dropped a stone in the well of the Earth, and the ripple he made was insane. THOUSANDS of pieces have been added to the walls. Kids, from every age, from one to one hundred. Represented. Smiles, laughs. Can you imagine the sparks this guy got going in the minds of thousands of people, like mine? Whether it was the art, or the concept, or maybe going to a workshop and seeing what was happening. Can you just imagine? 

The thought processes, the lavish expressions of art. Even the ones left blank. Every single one is a representation of an individual person, expressing him/herself to the best he/she can. ONE PERSON. Brought so many people together. Out of every single walk of life. There is a piece, on that wall, to represent it. Because just like we are each our own puzzle, we are also a piece of something bigger. And we all fit together. 

Is that not profound enough to make you think? To inspire you? It certainly left me staring out the window, pondering the true power of one little movement. 







You could be the one to inspire. You, one little person, seemingly lost in this huge earth, you can make a huge difference. Maybe the first step is making your own puzzle piece. Find out how at http://www.artisgoodforyou.com/ 

Send me pictures of your pieces! You do have something to offer. So, do not be afraid. Go forth and inspire! 

365

365 days ago

Still at EHS. 365 days ago. I was scared about Alt. I didn't know what was going to happen, where I would end up. I figured I wouldn't cheer anymore. I had nothing but hope though. I was scared. I was rock bottom. I had just come off a hard year, I was prepared to go up. That had to be the only direction I could go. 

January was a month of meetings, phone calls, and confusion. I thought maybe I could still hang on. By any little thread I had, by golly, I was going to hang on. 

February was a month of letting go. I transferred to Alt Ed, and began my journey. 

March. I think I started vocal lessons and this blog in March. I started cracking out of my shell. Oh, I also turned 17. 

April. I was definitely out of my shell, singing to my teachers, and dancing. Always. Alt Ed began to feel like home, and one of my favorite places on Earth. 

May. May was a beautiful month. In May, we went on the Alt Ed trip and I got really close with my new class, as well as my teachers. May was a month of new beginnings. Excitement for school, for life! Came flooding back into my veins. I can still feel the cool morning air of Boise on my skin. The smell of BBQ hamburgers and the various sounds of joy that floated around the air. 

June was a month of travel. A month of new things, like living alone, away from home for a week, running almost daily, shoving cans through at the Dollar Stretcher, and my best friend came home for the summer. 

July was full of lake days and late nights. Gallons of ice cream eaten by my best friend and I, gallons of gas used on the road between us and Katie. Fireworks that lit up the sky as I sat, for the first time, with my best friend, at the lake on a hill with the magic of summer floating around. July was also the month I took a job with TNU. I started my journalism career (sorta?) and created a bunch of really cool connections. We got new floors, and I had a blast with 4-H camp. ALSO, IT WAS THE BEST MONTH CAUSE ITS THE ONE I FOUND OUT I COULD CHEER AGAIN. 

August was a month of good bye. Good bye summer, good bye Rachel. Good bye best friend (for now). I took my first spontaneous jump in the lake, good bye to all of my missing credits. I finished all my summer courses, and prepared to settle in for my last beautiful year of high school. 

September was a month of dreams coming true. Homecoming was so much more than I could have asked for. I got a promotion at TNU, build some amazing friendships with girls from Alt Ed.

October, I went to my first dance that wasn't an EHS dance. I met some pretty rad dancers at Joseph's homecoming, helped my church out with a Halloween celebration at the cloverleaf hall, my brother and I went on a rescue mission to save our two cats, Oscar and Emmy, I got some senior photos taken, and I also started at my first job (!!!) 

In November, our football team went to state playoffs for the first time in I have no idea how long. It was really awesome for the cheerleaders, because we all got one more game, and more pep assemblies, and more bonding. It was also the month of cheer tryouts. My first ever cheer tryouts. Our team grew, and the bonds we had strengthened. 

December was a crazy long month. It started with a Christmas Bazaar that my mother organized,  and I baked around 500 cookies for, then basketball and church choir practice and work, plus workouts and honestly it was a long month, but it went by so fast I can hardly remember. However, I did take my last cheer trip to Peneldton and had such a blast with my squad. 

This past year was a good one, thats for sure. It contained a lot of growth. A lot of unexpected, maybe some hurt and pain, but all of it wrapped up into this one beautiful experience that I was in no way expecting. My days were packed, and now they are even more packed with college stuff, anticipation for graduation and the newness thats ahead of me. I left 2017, sitting on the couch, snuggled up with my mom and two cats, watching West Side Story. 

If there is one thing I learned this year, it was that growth is an opportunity that presents itself, and sometimes you don't even know your experiencing it. Last year, My resolution was to discover true beauty, and I found it. Not in the mirror, like I thought I was, but in my heart, and the world around me. This year, I set no goal, other than to be more aware of the opportunities life is presenting. 

I hope to bring bravery, fortitude, endurance, passion, motivation, joy, and drive into 2018 with me. Here is to a year of personal growth, change, and fear conquering.  

Hurrah, and welcome to my life, 2018!