One of my biggest fans is a junior high teacher in my hometown. When we get together, we often talk about what is going on in our small town. Inevitably she will tell me stories about what is happening at the junior high and we will reminisce about how difficult those awkward junior high years are. I remember my junior high days like they were yesterday...how could I forget them! They were the most difficult and emotional years of my life!

In junior high I was extremely shy! I had no friends. I wasn't popular and I didn't play sports. My body had not yet started to mature and all the other girls, including my twin, were starting to mature while I still looked like a boy! I always thought that my extremely slim body type was unnatural. I was just miserable! To make matters worse, I was a middle class kid in a VERY wealthy community. It seemed like all the other girls had all the trendy purses and clothes and they all seemed like they had it all together. I was clueless! Makeup? What do you do with that?

I started taking dance lessons when I was in 5th grade and thought I might have found something I might be good at, but I wasn't sure. Then at the end of eighth grade, the director of our high school drill team, Mrs. Baker, came to our PE classes to talk about trying out for the High School drill team. I was thrilled! At last, I had found something to dream about. To make a long story short, I made our nationally ranked drill team as a sophomore and was an officer my junior and senior years. I soon found out that I wasn't the least bit shy when I was performing!

During those years, I made some amazing memories and even better friends. Who could forget those early morning practices or crying our eyes out at that last roll call? It was then that I began to dream about becoming a member of the DCC.

I was offered a dance scholarship to Blinn College and under the patient leadership of Kerri Forsythe, I began to mature as a dancer and a person. My freshman year, our football team was undefeated and they were the Junior College National Champions! Our dance team was almost as good! We went to the NDA championships in Daytona and finished in 11th place. The next year, I was captain of our dance team. What an amazing year that was! Thanks to the hard work of some great girls, we finished 6th place at Nationals! It was Blinn's best record ever. I left Blinn with even more wonderful friends and the desire to take my dancing to a higher level. The week after nationals I began my journey to become a DCC!

Shyness is my true nature, but thanks to my training from the DCC, I'm becoming a more confident speaker. I cannot describe how exciting it was the first time I put on the DCC uniform during training camp or how scared I was the first time I was called into Kelli's office.

Dancing at the Cowboys games is an absolute dream! I cannot tell you how proud and excited I am every time I put on that famous uniform and walk through the tunnel at Texas Stadium. Becoming a Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader makes me look back at my awkward junior high years and think "I may not have been pretty...or wealthy...or popular, but having that passion for dancing and performing has turned a skinny, shy, lonely little girl from middle school into a Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader! Thanks to some amazing mentors and support from my family, I am living a dream!