At the ending of the 2000-2001 school year, the school principal, Mr. Zapata, began announcing tryouts would be held in "a few days." He had a monotone voice that mostly everyone can fall asleep to. Yet, I anxiously kept track of all practice times and any meetings we were to have. The first meeting of the cheerleading candidates came as a surprise to me. I knew about it, but I just didn't quite know what to expect. At the meeting, I quickly came to the conclusion that mostly everyone had either tried out previously of was already a cheerleader. I was afraid. Scared. Alone. Competition was going to be tough and I didn't have anyone to really chat with or confide in. I looked around the humid, malodorous snack bar and found that I was the only person with an awkward lanky body. Hard work and determination was what I was going to need to get me in the squad.

The first day of practice was held in the dance studio of the high school fine art

It seemed as if we waited for the results forever. A long grueling 3 and a half hours were spent sitting down playing with odds and ends I found on the floor. Finally, the moment of truth came. First, the JV team was announced. I knew I couldn't have made JV since I was a senior, so I expected my name not to be called. Then came the Varsity members. One by one, I anxiously awaited my name to be called. I remember thinking in my mind "maybe I'm the next one...hopefully I'm the next one...PLEASE LET ME BE NEXT ONE!!" but my name was never called out. A congratulations was said and the new cheerleaders went off to get fitted for a uniform.

Tryouts were held in another dance studio of the fine arts academy. Everyone trying out picked a number from a jar and that was to be the order of the tryouts. I was number 14. I was too nervous about being at the beginning of the line that I hardly practiced any stunts or my cheer. Butterflies had captured my stomach. When number 10 was called out, I felt so nervous that I could taste the awful sour acid from my stomach explode into the back of my mouth. Thankfully, nothing else emerged from that incident. Now that number 11 was in the tryout room, I decided to calm myself down and go over a stunt or two with my partner and the ridiculously simple cheer. I was now full of stamina adrenaline. When number 14 was called out, I was ready to go. Once I stepped into the tryout room, my heart started thudding in my chest. I began to sweat nervously. I could

Some common words found in the essay are:
Angie Gonzales, Scared Competition, , name called, held dance studio, held dance, dance studio, simple cheer, tryouts held, fine arts,
Approximate Word count = 1022
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)