In 2019, the Tigerettes share their last moments with us. This was the exact moment I started bawling my eyes out.
When picking out songs for the traditional senior dance, the seniors and I decided we should end with a song that encompasses our time together, something bittersweet. We met at El Puerto to discuss ideas, and when I say this was our go-to spot, it’s an understatement. Anyway, my class has never been traditional. When choosing what we would do for the senior dance, we wanted to make it fit us and be special. To start, we picked songs from the early 2000s, when we are all born. Then we picked classmates, boys and girls, that made us laugh to join us for the performance. Coming back to that bittersweet end song, we chose ‘Someone to You’ by the Banners. I’m going to be honest when I say I just wanted to dance to this song because I knew when the time came, I’d cry. However, I did not think the song would end up feeling so perfect for me, Hailee Stark, Amelia Stoner, and Johnny Nguyen as a group. The last thing we decided was to have the rest of the Tigerettes join us at the end, it was only fitting.
   Waking up at 6:30 a.m. never got any easier let me tell you. Of course, my body got used to it, but at the same time ew. Looking back at my freshman year, I felt so obscure. I usually ended up in the back of a dance, whether that be because I was a lazy dancer (I definitely was) or simply because of my age, I will never know. That year was sort of a transition year between the old coach and the new coach, so the team was a little divided. Our new coach, Meagan Stoner, a dance teacher, and her work ethic surprised some of the upperclassmen I think. I know it must’ve been weird switching coaches with one or two years left, so I’ve never held it against them. I was a shy type, so I really didn’t ever get comfortable around them anyway.
   My sophomore year I felt much more comfortable. A majority of the dancers were people I had been dancing with at my studio for years. I started to feel more confident about my hip hop technique when Coach Stoner put me next to our senior in the annual state dance. With that being at the beginning of the season, I knew going in I couldn’t stand being in the back again. I still was most of the time, but I told myself it was because of my age (again). Another thing that gave me confidence was our new uniforms. Freshman year my measurements were messed up so when I say my uniforms were tight, oh my goodness they were tight. Being self-conscious didn’t help either. So with the correct measurements, I was feeling pretty good. At our banquet that year, our one senior gave me a gift. It was a sort of cheer type horn made of posterboard and it was graffitied with names and dates. When she handed it to me, she said I made her laugh. She encouraged me to apply to be a captain, which I figured was a long shot. I did it anyway and after I was granted the position, I wrote my name on that horn in big, pink letters.
   My junior year I was forced to leave my comfort zone. Because I was captain I had to make loads of decisions, but the senior I was co-captains with made it fun. We made a pretty decent ‘good cop, bad cop’ pair. I was the good cop because I had no backbone…oops. Being in a position of power, people started putting me at the front of formations, and I was not complaining. I knew not all of the decisions we made were popular (only the ones made at El Puerto were), but I developed a thick skin which, in turn, became a blessing. Junior year was all about improving my leadership and technical abilities. It was also about me starting to put the Tigerettes before myself.
   Senior year has been tough. I’m in multiple leadership positions and multiple college classes, but my love for the team is as intense as ever. It is the first time that I feel completely happy with my team. And what I mean by that is, there was like no drama. Of course, the 7 a.m. tiffs still existed, but I think the people on the team really meshed well together. I knew after football season ended it was only a matter of time before I was putting away my poms. Cut to the four seniors choreographing the senior dance two months later, I don’t think I have ever laughed so hard. The game came around and we started it with our classic senior led ‘I Love My Girls’ chant with the Tigerettes and we were off. When the time came to show the dance off, I was really feeling it. I was prepared to cry at the end of the dance, but Johnny wrote us all a letter and I was a mess from the very beginning. I brushed it off though for the next two minutes until I looked to my right at Hailee before our individual bows. The tears really came down when the Tigerettes came to the floor and hugged us. I needed that hug. When I turned around to face the home crowd one last time I wasn’t trying to hold it in. Snot, tears, mascara, everything was present in that moment. I heard the song end and I could not believe it was for the last time. We seniors cried for a solid half hour after that. We were done dancing for the Tigerettes.
All I can say is I had the time of my life dancing for this team. I love my girls so much. I’ve made lifelong friends and learned lifelong lessons in my four years. Thank you to everyone, my parents, my friends, my classmates, my teammates, my seniors (and everyone who was forced to watch us) for all of the support. I’m going to remember this experience as the thing that changed my life. When I miss it I’ll probably just call some dancers up and hop over to El Puerto. And honestly, that end song? I’ll probably never listen to it again. I don’t want to replace the memory of my last moments dancing as a Tigerette.
