Blog 4: Working EQ

The Pentagon:

1. Positive Statement:
So far I've been lucky to have many positive things happen as a result of what I've completed so far in my senior project. I've become a better cheerleader and coach and I've learned how to use both roles to feed off of each other and help the other blossom. I've grown close to my teammates, the girls I coach, and to my coaches, which has opened up new friendships and relationships with some of the most wonderful and inspiring people I will ever meet. On a more personal level, I've gotten more physically fit, built up confidence in myself, and opened up the expectations I previously had regarding the limits of my possibilities. I'm very proud of all the positive things that have come out of choosing All - Star cheerleading as my topic thus far.

2. EQ Content (using Interview #1):
I believe that my first interview for senior project went very well. No matter how much research you do on a topic, especially one that is a sport, it will never compare to the understanding you'll get of it from talking to an expert in the field of your topic. Jason Brandt, the person I interviewed, is someone everyone looks to approval for because his opinion is so respected. He has so much experience and knowledge in and of All - Star cheerleading that he could (and should) write a book about it. Asking him questions about the sport really gave me an in-depth look at how a person who is passionate about the sport feels and thinks about it. People in the All - Star cheerleading industry love the sport so much and are so passionate about it that they take it to a whole new level. All - Star cheerleading isn't just a sport, it's a way of life, people devote their lives to this sport and sacrifice so many things to be able to do it or participate in it somehow. The All - Star cheerleading industry isn't like a normal sport industry, it's a family, and in order to begin to understand how much people who are involved in this industry love it and do what they do because of it, you really have to understand the fact that it is like no other sport. Talking to Jason about this and having him tell me things like this not only in my interview but during my hours of practicing cheer under him and coaching cheer alongside him has really opened my eyes to how amazing All - Star cheerleading really is.

3. What has worked for me so far:
As much as I love coaching and the team I coach, it's nothing compared to how much I love being on the mat and cheering myself. There's a sense of pride unique to finally hitting a stunt after it fell 50 times beforehand or doing your backwalkover by yourself after working on it for 3 months straight. There's a sense of pride unique to every aspect of cheerleading whether it be the stunting, tumbling or dancing aspect of it. Although nothing in cheer comes easy, there are certain things you excel at. For example, my jumps are so low it's embarrassing but I'm so good at dancing I'm center dancer for the routine (which is a hard spot to keep since everyone on the team is always competing for it!). From the research I've done regarding cheerleading as a whole and aspects of it individually, I'd say the most information I could find was on stunting, tumbling, and whether or not the activity is a sport. Since talking to my coaches about it, I've decided to look more into the tumbling aspect of cheer since it intersects with other sports such as gymnastics and I'd be able to find a lot of research on it. Honestly, talking to my coaches and the owner of my gym about anything has been the best thing for me to do for my senior project. They all have such great suggestions and guidance I couldn't be doing this without their help.

4. What has not worked:
There aren't many things I've had trouble with regarding my senior project, but my biggest issue is finding good research. I'm constantly concerned that the research I'm finding isn't good enough or as helpful as other things I can be looking up. I also worry that the research I need is very scarce. It has been pretty difficult finding research for All - Star cheerleading alone that focuses intently on that aspect of cheerleading. This is why I'm going to look more into tumbling.

5. Finding Value:
A.

1. Will I be able to find sufficient research on the area of All - Star cheerleading I'm going to focus on?
2. What subject of my topic qualifies as a topic for my senior project? 
3. Will coaching still count as my mentorship hours even if my topic has nothing to do with coaching cheer? If not, what am I going to do for mentorship hours?

B. I want people to have a completely different perception of cheerleading when I'm done with my senior project. Whether it be the entire United States that walks away with a different POV on it or just the senior class at iPoly, I want to change the way people see the sport. I want people to understand how much hard work, dedication, and love goes into being an All - Star cheerleader and I want them to know it's a sport. All - Star cheerleading doesn't get the recognition and respect it should get as a sport and I'm going to change that. A good grade on the project would just be a plus.

C. Next, I would like to talk to Grace Contreras, the owner of the gym I cheer and coach at. She has over 30 years of experience in cheerleading and she is actually asked to be a judge at international All - Star cheerleading competitions. If there's anyone who knows every aspect of cheerleading  in depth it's Grace and I believe at this point in time I need to talk to someone who knows as much as she does about every aspect of the sport in order to narrow down what I want to focus my project on.

SF Blog A: Problem Statement

1) Topic: All Star Cheerleading

2) Problem: All Star Cheerleading is not considered an official sport. What I will do when I solve the problem: Hopefully get All Star Cheerleading to be established as an official sport, thus bringing more money and resources to the industry and helping it blossom. I would also like to sever any misconceptions about All Star Cheerleading there may be due to the media and entertainment.

3) Problem: Tumbling is harder for girls to learn than it is for boys. What I will do when I solve the problem: I would like to use already compiled data and research on tumbling to produce a conditioning and learning process designed specifically for girls who would like to excel in tumbling at a much faster rate than they currently do. This is so that they won't be outshined or discouraged by the rate boys grasp tumbling at in comparison to the much slower rate girls learn it.

Blog 3: Interview Preparation

1. I plan on interviewing Jason Brandt, the Director and Head Coach of the gym I cheer and coach at. He, along with a couple other coaches, are the people who do the choreography for every team at our gym. He has 14+ years of experience, is a certified coach, first-aid certified, and won 10 National Championships during his cheerleading career. I know he is going to be one of my most valuable resources this year and I would like to have my first interview with his because of that. I believe he will give me a good basis to start my project off of, especially when it comes to me determining what direction I want to go in with my senior project.

2. In addition to the five questions I have to ask, I'm going to ask these:

• What is your favorite aspect of All-Star cheerleading as a cheerleader? Why?
• What is your favorite aspect of All-Star cheerleading as a coach? Why?
• What makes All-Star cheerleading so important to you?
• What would you like more people to know about All-Star cheerleading?
• In addition to the mentorship activities I already do, are there any other things I can do that you believe would help me in my project?
• Aside from interviews, lectures, and the few nonfiction books written on cheer, what other things or places can I draw good research from?

Blog 2: Topic Choice

A.
My topic is All Star Cheerleading because cheerleading is something I have been involved in since a young age, I'm very passionate about it, and I feel that people have a lot of misconceptions about it. For a long time society has had stereotypes about cheerleaders and it hasn't been considered a serious sport. People don't understand how hard cheer really is, the amount of work you have to put into it, the blood, sweat, and tears shed over it. I'm not too sure what I'm specifically going to focus on within All Star cheerleading, but I'm leaning towards something involving choreography since it's something I enjoy learning, teaching, and it's something I excel at. I've already set up a date to talk with the head director of my gym to help me determine exactly what I want to focus my topic on.

B.
 I-Poly Citizen: This year, I'm not going to procrastinate. I've honestly gotten better at not doing it these last few years and I'm going to make sure I don't kill myself this last year and I have time to enjoy life and be a senior. I'm going to make sure all of my senior project components are done and turned in on time, that I coach once a week, go to every practice and know I'm the only person to blame if anything falls through in my project. I'm going to keep a very open mind and a positive attitude about anything that gets thrown my way in the project or in cheer while also encouraging my peers to do so. This in turn will help me to become a better citizen of the I-Poly community.

Effective Communicator: This year I'm going to be more receptive to feedback and opinions on my senior project since, like I mentioned before, cheer is a group effort. Although I can give my opinion over and over again about this and about that, cheer is looked at differently from different people, and I'm going to use my team and my coaches and the kids I coach as much as I can to give the most consensual, unbiased, fact based answers for my senior project. These are the reasons I will become a more effective learner, especially since I struggle in this area.

Effective Learner: Since cheer is a team sport and we rely on each other all of the time, much like everything we do at I-Poly, I'm going to take advantage of the fact that my senior project is a solo project and I'm going to try to personalize it as much as possible. I'm also going to gain as much knowledge as I can from my coaches not only on a team-based level but as an independent cheerleader to ensure I can relay all the aspects of the sport to the best of my ability in my project. This is how I'm going use the distinctness of cheer and my personality in my senior project to be a more effective learner. 

Effective User of Technology: I plan to look up most of my research on the internet this year. Since there aren't many nonfiction books on cheerleading, and more specifically all star cheerleading, most of my research will be either from lectures, interviews, or internet articles. There's only one or two cheer magazines I know of. Since I'm going to be on the internet so much I plan on learning how to sift through research quickly and efficiently, being able to pull stuff that's useful and leave stuff that isn't. In addition, I'm going to have to learn how to customize my blog and use excel and many other computer programs to create spreadsheets and handouts for my senior project. This will make me a more effective user of technology.