As her alarm goes off at 6 in the morning, junior Taylor Garcia’s eyes bolt open. She gets ready for school and several hours later she attends the Homework Center after school. She leaves and goes to cheer practice, and after that, competitive cheer practice. After a long day, she stumbles through her front door, overwhelmed from this daily routine, only to come home to a stack of homework from her many Advanced Placement and honors courses. When she finally gets to cuddle up with her blankets and fall asleep, it feels as if she hasn’t been asleep for more than a couple minutes.

Her alarm buzzes, and it’s a new day. It’s the same day.

“My day’s crazy, but I’ve been doing it for so long that I come up with a schedule to balance out my day,” Garcia said.

Throughout her years at Stagg, she’s been on varsity cheer and has been committed to competitive cheer for eight years.

When some people think of cheer, they think of it being nothing but girls parading around annoying people by screaming and yelling. But if they were to take a step into the cheerleaders’ shoes, they would see something more. They would feel as Garcia does.

Cheer has always stood out to her because it differs from any other sport. She enjoys performing in front of people and going to all the competitions to show everyone cheerleading takes just as much effort.

“People are always stereotyping it though, so they never take it serious,” Garcia said.

She isn’t the only student who finds something deeper within cheering.

Sophomore Damajgion Burnett has been involved in competitive cheer for about a month now. After long hours at Cheer Odyssey’s open gym, and being scouted at his games, he was sponsored to participate in competitive cheer.

Some might think it’s odd for a guy to be on a cheerleading team, and some might think it’s even odder when he has the most spirit. Having so much energy, and being truly dedicated, he’s been encouraged to come back to Stagg, after he’s graduated, to coach the cheer squad. And it’s something he’s taking into consideration.

Since Burnett hasn’t been doing it as long as Garcia, he doesn’t feel as overwhelmed. Nor does he feel the need to have to juggle his schedule around, but there’s still a hassle when it comes to attending two practices in one day.

“I’m tired by the time Odyssey practice starts, but I still push myself to do it,” Burnett said. From 4:00 to 5:30 p.m., he has school cheer, then competitive cheer from 7:30 to 9:00, leaving him with only two hours to complete some homework, and eat in between.

“They’re really good at cheering and performing,” sophomore and JV cheerleader Sofia Rodriguez said. “I don’t think I’d be able to do what they do. They take on so many responsibilities.”