It was quite a sight watching all the cheerleaders trying to pack the bus. There was not one empty seat to put anything in. We were headed to Hot Springs for a great memory that I will never forget. The Cheerleading State Competition was held on December 21st, 2013. We had cried, laughed, puked, and bleed to get ready for this day. It was the day we had worked for and we had to show our stuff. Our cheer family became closer than ever that weekend. You could feel the nerves pouring out of all of us. While most normal people were sleeping, the cheerleaders were getting competition ready. 9:56 a.m. was the time, the time to prove ourself. Being the first one on the mat is a good thing or a bad thing, depending on the way you look at it. You have to set the bar for the other teams. In warm-up room we were definitely not hitting everything perfect, but it was not awful. Even though we nervous about the stunts, tumbling, and pyramid, we knew under pressure we would hit it. As we entered the mat and started the music, I could tell we were going to do good. And we did just that. We rocked that performance and did the best we have ever done. After our performance, all the rest of the teams went. We knew we had a chance of winning, but we not getting too confident. Now it was in the hands of the judges to decide. We were so ready to find out if we had won. There were several excellent teams that had worked just as hard as we had. Sitting on the mat with the other eight teams we had competed against was nerve-racking. They started calling out the teams and who had won a bid to nationals. We received a bid so we knew we were in the top five. When they said “The State Runner-Up is Maumelle,” we were shocked. We were told West Fork was our biggest competitor, and when they didn’t place second we were confused. Now it was between West Fork and Pea Ridge for the State title. Every cheerleader’s face was priceless when they announced “The State Champion is... the Pea Ridge Blackhawks.” As they handed us our trophy, we cried of joy. We had worked hard and achieved our goal of winning state. We wanted that title of being State Champions so much. That moment will stay with me forever, and I will never forget that day. It was a great start to my Christmas break.