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A New Reason to Cheer

By: Tyler Sekula

Oprah Winfrey once said, “You’ve got to follow your passion. You’ve got to figure out what it is you love and have the courage to do that. I believe that the only courage anybody ever needs is the courage to follow your own dreams.” However, what happens when you have to decide between two very different dreams?

Kelsey Byrd

Kelsey Byrd, a second-semester senior education major at High Point University, knows all about making difficult decisions.  

From a young age Byrd found herself completely in love with the sport of cheerleading.

“The very first competition I participated in, I was only nine years old,” Byrd said. “I remember being so nervous to go on stage. I just knew I was going to mess up, I was so scared and I didn’t know what I was doing.”

However, her fear of performing would not last long. As soon as she stepped on the floor, all of Byrd’s anxieties flew away.

“I just cheered my heart out,” Byrd said. “The feeling was absolutely incredible. I’ll always remember that first competition and that feeling stayed with me all the way until I was in high school.”

Throughout her cheerleading career Byrd competed in over 40 competitions, many of which on her high school’s varsity squad.

In her senior year, Byrd was named team captain, a role that she is still very proud of today.

However, as much as she loved to cheer, Byrd had a much bigger goal in mind: to become a teacher.

Ever since she was a little girl, Byrd dreamed of becoming an elementary school teacher. Inspired by a teacher of her own, Byrd knew she wanted to pursue a degree in education after high school.

“I was a really difficult decision for me to make between High Point University where I knew I could become an amazing teacher or I could go somewhere else and maybe be an alright teacher but I would be able to cheer,” Byrd said. “When it really came down to it, I decided that I was going to be an amazing teacher.”

Now that she is no longer cheering, Byrd spends all of her time learning how to be a better teacher.

“I am really proud of her decision to follow her passion,” said Tyler Sekula, Byrd’s boyfriend. “It takes a lot of courage to let go of something you love in order to pursue something more important."

Byrd currently teaches in a fourth-grade classroom at Hasty Elementary in Thomasville.

“Of course I really miss cheerleading a lot and I sometimes regret not sticking with it, but, I didn’t give up, I just chose to pursue something that was more important to me.”

______________________________

Who: Kelsey Byrd
What: Making difficult decisions
Where: High Point University
When: When she chose to come to high point
Why: Because she wanted to follow her passion

News values: human interest, proximity
Type of Lede: Quotation lede