In August, the Chester cheer squad attended a NCA (National Cheerleading Association) camp. At the end of the camp, the Cheerleaders could try out to be an All-American Cheerleader. If they made All-American or became an All-American Nominee, they were eligible to attend a list of trips. The choices ranged from London, Hawaii and a couple of Florida trips. 4 other cheerleaders and I became eligible after the tryout process those cheerleaders include Callie Jo Davis, Alexis Eggemeyer, Dyson Helmers, and Elaina Luttman.

After choosing Hawaii as my trip, my mom and I had less than two months to plan. A month out, the choreography came out for the Pearl Harbor parade in Honolulu. Cheering in the parade was the purpose of the trip for Varsity NCA. They sent out a schedule that included a tour of Pearl Harbor, practice, the parade, and luau. I was very busy.

On December 4 at 6 a.m., my plane left the St. Louis airport and we landed at Las Vegas Airport. I was feeling super excited because why wouldn’t I be, I am going to Hawaii in December! Once we landed in Las Vegas we switched planes and then flew to Maui. Then we took one last plane from Maui to Honolulu.

After a super long combination of flights and little sleep, I landed in Honolulu. Our driver, who was hired for us, was at the airport and took us to the hotel. The hotel was HUGE. It had shops, Starbucks, a beachfront view, a pool, and many entertainment areas to hang out at.

On the first day, we had to check in and attend a uniform check. There I received my Varsity buddy, Savannah, a medal, sunglasses, and many many picture opportunities. My mom, brother, and I then ate supper. After supper, we looked at the shops across the street from the beach. Hawaii is four hours behind Illinois so our sleeping got messed up.

Tuesday, I woke up and we visited the Pearl Harbor memorial and there were many ships and parts to see. It was raining in Hawaii but it was more of a mist but it didn’t affect the trip. Later that night, we ate and did some more shopping. With my schedule, we couldn’t take the trips we wanted while we were in Hawaii so hopefully, in the future, we can visit places like the North Shore.

Wednesday, we woke up and rode bikes to a famous bakery with a famous Hawaiian breakfast treat at Leonard’s bakery. We walked back to the hotel to attend practice. I met so many friends from Iowa and Michigan there. There were many more people from all over the US but these were the most memorable. After practice, we took a trip to a famous mall but it was over an hour’s walk.

Thursday was parade day!! I woke up and finally, we went to the beach. We spent plenty of time down there. However, there were jellyfish warning signs up and a lot of people got stung and one girl got rushed to the hospital. Luckily, I didn’t get stung. After the beach, we ate and then got ready for the parade. Then I performed in the parade and there were many videos of me being live-streamed. After that, my mom and I walked to the beach at night and it was very cool.

Then Friday, we spent our last day, doing a pool and beach day and attending the luau. They were so so so much fun.

Now that I explained the rundown of the week, I am giving some pros and cons about the trip and Hawaii in general.

Some pros were that there were about 800 participants so there were so many people to make friends with. Hawaii is so warm at this time of year so it was a nice break from the cold. The food is yummy there as well and there are so many other positive things but this would be a million pages.

Some cons were that there were many homeless people which is super sad but some of them would scream at you etc. Everything is extra expensive down there because transportation is very hard on the island. Also, there are no public restrooms basically at all.

In general, the trip was an awesome experience and a great break from school. I have so many long-lasting memories from cheerleading that I can not wait to continue.

In two weeks, Dyson, Callie, and I will be taking an NCA Varsity All-American trip to Florida to perform at the Cheez-IT Bowl.

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