For my Hiraeth assignment, i struggled trying to figure out what i wanted to write about. i Initially decided to write about going to my grandmoms house every easter in my first draft. I started to understand more about what hiraeth really meant to me and i realized that writing about going to my grandmoms house for easter isnt something i truely yearn for. At that moment i knew exactly what i needed to write about. What i truely yearn and miss is cheerleading. Im glad i decided to change my topic to cheerleading because i felt as if i could be more detailed and make a good composition.
Here are some blog post related to the topic:
1. Hiraeth Writing Process Reflection
2. Hiraeth Project Discussion
3. My Hiraeth
Here are some blog post related to the topic:
1. Hiraeth Writing Process Reflection
2. Hiraeth Project Discussion
3. My Hiraeth
Draft 1-
As I drive past my grand moms old street I noticed a for sale sign sticking in the grass right next to her mailbox. I kept thinking to myself “wow, those new owners are sure lucky to be living in that house.” Hopefully they will enjoy it as much as my family and I did. I felt very sad knowing that I’ll never get to go back to my grandmother old house.
Its present day now and me and my whole family are getting together because it’s our grandmothers birthday. We all go to her new house. As were all sitting at the table, we just ate her famous chicken noodle soup. She used to gather us all in the kitchen of the old house and teach us her secret recipe for the soup. Each one of us had a special job to. It brings us back to other memories we shared there. “Hey, remember that one time on Easter day when we were all together and had a huge trade off down stairs?” one of the oldest cousins shouted. She would throw huge Easter egg hunts. All of us younger cousins would have to wait downstairs while the adults hide the eggs. All of us kids couldn’t control our excitement as we waited. We jumped up and down shouted “WE WANT EASTER EGGS!” over and over. We would always try to sneak a peek through the window. As soon as they were done hiding all of the eggs, my grandmother gave us each a colored basket with our names on it and let us loose. We would run wild through the field to find the most eggs as we possibly could. I was only 6 at the time so I always had a buddy, usually my older brother helping me with the hunt. It was always a contest between each other to see who could get the most eggs. Although everyone’s real mission was to find the coveted golden egg where there was always a 20$ bill and had the most candy hidden inside. It always went to an older cousin because they hid that one real well. At the end of hunt, we would all go back downstairs and open ours eggs and see what we got. All I could hear was the popping sound the plastic eggs would make when they were opened. And then the trading would begin. “I’ll give you 3 yellow starbursts for your reeses cup.” It was moments like this that I wish I could go back in time and relive. My cousins and I are much older now and don’t see each other as often as we did back then. We used to be so excited to see each other when we were younger. It’s so much different now. We all our busy with our own lives and only speak during the holidays. Although I yearn to go back to my grandmother’s old house, it wouldn’t be the same as it once was.
As I drive past my grand moms old street I noticed a for sale sign sticking in the grass right next to her mailbox. I kept thinking to myself “wow, those new owners are sure lucky to be living in that house.” Hopefully they will enjoy it as much as my family and I did. I felt very sad knowing that I’ll never get to go back to my grandmother old house.
Its present day now and me and my whole family are getting together because it’s our grandmothers birthday. We all go to her new house. As were all sitting at the table, we just ate her famous chicken noodle soup. She used to gather us all in the kitchen of the old house and teach us her secret recipe for the soup. Each one of us had a special job to. It brings us back to other memories we shared there. “Hey, remember that one time on Easter day when we were all together and had a huge trade off down stairs?” one of the oldest cousins shouted. She would throw huge Easter egg hunts. All of us younger cousins would have to wait downstairs while the adults hide the eggs. All of us kids couldn’t control our excitement as we waited. We jumped up and down shouted “WE WANT EASTER EGGS!” over and over. We would always try to sneak a peek through the window. As soon as they were done hiding all of the eggs, my grandmother gave us each a colored basket with our names on it and let us loose. We would run wild through the field to find the most eggs as we possibly could. I was only 6 at the time so I always had a buddy, usually my older brother helping me with the hunt. It was always a contest between each other to see who could get the most eggs. Although everyone’s real mission was to find the coveted golden egg where there was always a 20$ bill and had the most candy hidden inside. It always went to an older cousin because they hid that one real well. At the end of hunt, we would all go back downstairs and open ours eggs and see what we got. All I could hear was the popping sound the plastic eggs would make when they were opened. And then the trading would begin. “I’ll give you 3 yellow starbursts for your reeses cup.” It was moments like this that I wish I could go back in time and relive. My cousins and I are much older now and don’t see each other as often as we did back then. We used to be so excited to see each other when we were younger. It’s so much different now. We all our busy with our own lives and only speak during the holidays. Although I yearn to go back to my grandmother’s old house, it wouldn’t be the same as it once was.
Draft #2-
“Are you forgetting something?” My mom says as she’s waving my cheerleading shoes in front of me.
“Oh right! I always seem to forget those. Thanks mom.”
Every day after school I was always in a big rush because I only had about an hour to get ready for cheer practice. Usually my mom would make me a meal as soon as I got home. Since I was on two teams I wouldn’t come home till about 9:30 at night so it was very important that I had a filling meal to get me through these tough practices. Today my mom made me a grilled chicken sandwich with an apple. I always appreciated how much my mom helped me whenever I needed her. She was always there to support me.
Throughout my high school years, instead of hanging out with my school friends after school and on the weekends, I always had cheer. Practices were Sunday through Thursday and competitions were every other weekend. Basically, I didn’t have time for anything else but cheer. EAT SLEEP CHEER. As corny as that saying is, it was the total truth.
Today is the first practice of the season. My team Entourage is expected to do great things this year because of the very successful season we had previous. We won most of the competitions we went to and always had people talking about our performances. Despite all our success, we did have one incredibly devastating loss at the end of the season. It was a 2-day competition in Florida known as nationals. It was our biggest competition of the whole season. Day 1 we had a perfect performance. We were on cloud nine knowing that going into day 2 we were sitting in the first-place spot. All we had to do was repeat what we had done on day 1 and we would be champions! However, we were not so lucky the last day. We had one small mistake only worth .05 in deductions on the scores. That was just enough to drop us to 2nd place. We were in severe shock when the called us 2nd at awards. It completely crushed us. Although this had a huge impact on our teams spirit we were never a team to accept defeat. It gave us the motivation we needed to do even better this season. That was one of the many great things about my team. We always picked each other off the floor, brushed our shoulders off and kept going. Coming into the gym that day I could tell in everyone’s eyes that they were just as hungry and eager as I was to prove everyone wrong. This was our redemption year. The smell of icy hot and deodorant filled the room. The warm up room was always filled with chaos. All I hear is voices of laughter and motivational speeches being spread throughout different conversations. I can hear the medical tape being teared up into pieces and being wrapped onto a lot of different body parts. Shoulders, wrists, knees, ankles, and feet were the prime injures for cheerleaders. We got beat up a lot so most of us are covered in tape and braces so we don’t hurt ourselves even more. I find a spot next to my best friends on the team.
“Hey dev!” Julia shouts. “You ready for the worst 4 hours of our life’s?”
“No not at all. I should probably double up on icy hot”
“Good idea.”
Julia and I were one of the few that cheered on two teams. It was nice having her by my side who I could relate to about having not one but 2 practices a night. We both knew the struggle and we could lean on each other when we needed an extra push.
“Alright Entourage, time for practice. Run some laps around the building and then come inside and stretch quickly. We’ve got a lot of work to do tonight ladies.” Coach Gabe announces loudly into the warm up room.
After we finished up stretching, we knew it was time to put in work. Sometimes during practices, we tend to goof off once in a while. Today was not the day for games. Everyone was very focused and ready to try anything. A big part of making the team stronger was we needed to get more skills. We knew going into this season that getting those new skills would be very important. After were finished warming up basic tumbling passes and jumps, coach Gabe splits the team up in half and tells us to go on either back corner of the mat.
“I want to see your best tumbling pass and don’t hold anything back” Gabe says
One by one each person throws their pass. Some of the passes were roundoff through to layouts, roundoff through to fulls, punch front throughs etc. Many were throwing skills that have never tried before or were too afraid to go for until this moment. Everyone on the team was so ecstatic for one another. We all know everyone’s weaknesses and strengths on team and we all encourage each other to go for the challenges that frighten us the most. For me, coming off an injury from last season I was still trying to get certain skills back. I was next up to go for my pass. The positive energy in the room was so powerful I knew what I needed to do. My heart was racing. The only voices I hear are from my teammate cheering me on.
“Go for it Devon”
“You got this!”
“push through your toes, set up high, hallow out and pull” Coach Gabe yells
I was about to attempt the same pass that tore my meniscus just last season. I decided to listen to my teammates and just go for it.
I gave myself one last pep talk.
“I got this! nothing to be afraid of. I know how to do this”
I took one last long breath and went for it. As soon as I landed it I heard everybody screaming for me. It was the best feeling in the world. We continued to have this motivational energy throughout the whole practice.
If I ever had the chance to use a time machine, I wouldn’t even have to think twice about it. I would go back to my cheerleading days. Cheerleading made me the happiest person and I loved every single person there like they were my own family. Whenever I am feeling homesick about cheerleading, I like to look at all my old videos and pictures. The smell of icy hot alone will bring right back to that very moment. I still have all my old uniforms and shoes that I will never get rid of.
“Are you forgetting something?” My mom says as she’s waving my cheerleading shoes in front of me.
“Oh right! I always seem to forget those. Thanks mom.”
Every day after school I was always in a big rush because I only had about an hour to get ready for cheer practice. Usually my mom would make me a meal as soon as I got home. Since I was on two teams I wouldn’t come home till about 9:30 at night so it was very important that I had a filling meal to get me through these tough practices. Today my mom made me a grilled chicken sandwich with an apple. I always appreciated how much my mom helped me whenever I needed her. She was always there to support me.
Throughout my high school years, instead of hanging out with my school friends after school and on the weekends, I always had cheer. Practices were Sunday through Thursday and competitions were every other weekend. Basically, I didn’t have time for anything else but cheer. EAT SLEEP CHEER. As corny as that saying is, it was the total truth.
Today is the first practice of the season. My team Entourage is expected to do great things this year because of the very successful season we had previous. We won most of the competitions we went to and always had people talking about our performances. Despite all our success, we did have one incredibly devastating loss at the end of the season. It was a 2-day competition in Florida known as nationals. It was our biggest competition of the whole season. Day 1 we had a perfect performance. We were on cloud nine knowing that going into day 2 we were sitting in the first-place spot. All we had to do was repeat what we had done on day 1 and we would be champions! However, we were not so lucky the last day. We had one small mistake only worth .05 in deductions on the scores. That was just enough to drop us to 2nd place. We were in severe shock when the called us 2nd at awards. It completely crushed us. Although this had a huge impact on our teams spirit we were never a team to accept defeat. It gave us the motivation we needed to do even better this season. That was one of the many great things about my team. We always picked each other off the floor, brushed our shoulders off and kept going. Coming into the gym that day I could tell in everyone’s eyes that they were just as hungry and eager as I was to prove everyone wrong. This was our redemption year. The smell of icy hot and deodorant filled the room. The warm up room was always filled with chaos. All I hear is voices of laughter and motivational speeches being spread throughout different conversations. I can hear the medical tape being teared up into pieces and being wrapped onto a lot of different body parts. Shoulders, wrists, knees, ankles, and feet were the prime injures for cheerleaders. We got beat up a lot so most of us are covered in tape and braces so we don’t hurt ourselves even more. I find a spot next to my best friends on the team.
“Hey dev!” Julia shouts. “You ready for the worst 4 hours of our life’s?”
“No not at all. I should probably double up on icy hot”
“Good idea.”
Julia and I were one of the few that cheered on two teams. It was nice having her by my side who I could relate to about having not one but 2 practices a night. We both knew the struggle and we could lean on each other when we needed an extra push.
“Alright Entourage, time for practice. Run some laps around the building and then come inside and stretch quickly. We’ve got a lot of work to do tonight ladies.” Coach Gabe announces loudly into the warm up room.
After we finished up stretching, we knew it was time to put in work. Sometimes during practices, we tend to goof off once in a while. Today was not the day for games. Everyone was very focused and ready to try anything. A big part of making the team stronger was we needed to get more skills. We knew going into this season that getting those new skills would be very important. After were finished warming up basic tumbling passes and jumps, coach Gabe splits the team up in half and tells us to go on either back corner of the mat.
“I want to see your best tumbling pass and don’t hold anything back” Gabe says
One by one each person throws their pass. Some of the passes were roundoff through to layouts, roundoff through to fulls, punch front throughs etc. Many were throwing skills that have never tried before or were too afraid to go for until this moment. Everyone on the team was so ecstatic for one another. We all know everyone’s weaknesses and strengths on team and we all encourage each other to go for the challenges that frighten us the most. For me, coming off an injury from last season I was still trying to get certain skills back. I was next up to go for my pass. The positive energy in the room was so powerful I knew what I needed to do. My heart was racing. The only voices I hear are from my teammate cheering me on.
“Go for it Devon”
“You got this!”
“push through your toes, set up high, hallow out and pull” Coach Gabe yells
I was about to attempt the same pass that tore my meniscus just last season. I decided to listen to my teammates and just go for it.
I gave myself one last pep talk.
“I got this! nothing to be afraid of. I know how to do this”
I took one last long breath and went for it. As soon as I landed it I heard everybody screaming for me. It was the best feeling in the world. We continued to have this motivational energy throughout the whole practice.
If I ever had the chance to use a time machine, I wouldn’t even have to think twice about it. I would go back to my cheerleading days. Cheerleading made me the happiest person and I loved every single person there like they were my own family. Whenever I am feeling homesick about cheerleading, I like to look at all my old videos and pictures. The smell of icy hot alone will bring right back to that very moment. I still have all my old uniforms and shoes that I will never get rid of.
Final Draft-
“Are you forgetting something?” My mom says as she’s waving my cheerleading shoes in front of me.
“Oh right! I always seem to forget those. Thanks mom.”
Every day after school I was always in a big rush because I only had about an hour to get ready for cheer practice. Usually my mom would make me a meal as soon as I got home. Since I was on two teams I wouldn’t come home till about 9:30 at night so it was very important that I had a filling meal to get me through these tough practices. Today my mom made me a grilled chicken sandwich with an apple. I always appreciated how much my mom helped me whenever I needed her. She was always there to support me.
Throughout my high school years, instead of hanging out with my school friends after school and on the weekends, I always had cheer. Practices were Sunday through Thursday and competitions were every other weekend. Basically, I didn’t have time for anything else but cheer. EAT SLEEP CHEER. As corny as that saying is, it was the total truth.
Today is the first practice of the season. My team Entourage is expected to do great things this year because of the very successful season we had previous. We won most of the competitions we went to and always had people talking about our performances. Despite all our success, we did have one incredibly devastating loss at the end of the season. It was a two-day competition in Florida known as nationals. It was our biggest competition of the whole season. Day one we had a perfect performance. We were on cloud nine knowing that going into day two we were sitting in the first-place spot. All we had to do was repeat what we had done on day one and we would be champions! However, we were not so lucky the last day. We had one small mistake only worth .05 in deductions on the scores. That was just enough to drop us to second place. We were in severe shock when the called us second at awards. It completely crushed us. Although this had a huge impact on our teams spirit we were never a team to accept defeat. It gave us the motivation we needed to do even better this season. That was one of the many great things about my team. We always picked each other off the floor, brushed our shoulders off and kept going. Coming into the gym that day I could tell in everyone’s eyes that they were just as hungry and eager as I was to prove everyone wrong. This was our redemption year. The smell of icy hot and deodorant filled the room. The warm up room was always filled with chaos. All I hear is voices of laughter and motivational speeches being spread throughout different conversations. I can hear the medical tape being teared up into pieces and being wrapped onto a lot of different body parts. Shoulders, wrists, knees, ankles, and feet were the prime injures for cheerleaders. We got beat up a lot so most of us are covered in tape and braces so we don’t hurt ourselves even more. I find a spot next to my best friends on the team.
“Hey dev!” Julia shouts. “You ready for the worst 4 hours of our life’s?”
“No not at all. I should probably double up on icy hot”
“Good idea.”
Julia and I were one of the few that cheered on two teams. It was nice having her by my side who I could relate to about having not one but 2 practices a night. We both knew the struggle and we could lean on each other when we needed an extra push.
“Alright Entourage, time for practice. Run some laps around the building and then come inside and stretch quickly. We’ve got a lot of work to do tonight ladies.” Coach Gabe announces loudly into the warm up room.
After we finished up stretching, we knew it was time to put in work. Sometimes during practices, we tend to goof off once in a while. Today was not the day for games. Everyone was very focused and ready to try anything. A big part of making the team stronger was we needed to get more skills. We knew going into this season that getting those new skills would be very important. After were finished warming up basic tumbling passes and jumps, coach Gabe splits the team up in half and tells us to go on either back corner of the mat.
“I want to see your best tumbling pass and don’t hold anything back” Gabe says
One by one each person throws their pass. Some of the passes were roundoff through to layouts, roundoff through to fulls, punch front throughs etc. Many were throwing skills that have never tried before or were too afraid to go for until this moment. Everyone on the team was so ecstatic for one another. We all know everyone’s weaknesses and strengths on team and we all encourage each other to go for the challenges that frighten us the most. For me, coming off an injury from last season I was still trying to get certain skills back. Last season I tore my meniscus doing a round off through to layout. When I landed, my knee was straight and it hyper extended. I ended up having to get surgery on it. My recovery time was most of the season so I wasn’t allowed to compete until it was fully healed. I was next up to go for my pass. I was so nervous to go. I kept letting my teammate in front of me. I saw a couple of my teammates go for passes I knew they were also struggling on. They all executed them perfectly. The positive energy in the room was so powerful it gave me enough courage to just go for it. My heart was racing. The only voices I hear are from my teammate cheering me on.
“Go for it Devon”
“You got this!”
“push through your toes, set up high, hallow out and pull” Coach Gabe yells
I was about to attempt the same pass that tore my meniscus just last season. I decided to listen to my teammates and just go for it.
I gave myself one last pep talk.
“I got this! nothing to be afraid of. I know how to do this”
I took one last long breath and went for it. As soon as I landed it I heard everybody screaming for me. It was the best feeling in the world. We continued to have this motivational energy throughout the whole practice.
As the season continued that year, our team managed to keep that same motivation throughout the whole season. As for our redemption at nationals, we ended up taking 2nd place out of 22 other teams. Even though we didn’t take the first-place win, we accomplished so much as a team. That alone feels just as good as 1st place. If I ever have the chance to use a time machine, I wouldn’t even have to think twice about it. I would go back to my cheerleading days. Cheerleading made me the happiest person and I loved every single person there like they were my own family. Whenever I am feeling homesick about cheerleading, I like to look at all my old videos and pictures. The smell of icy hot alone will bring right back to that very moment. I still have all my old uniforms and shoes that I will never get rid of.
“Are you forgetting something?” My mom says as she’s waving my cheerleading shoes in front of me.
“Oh right! I always seem to forget those. Thanks mom.”
Every day after school I was always in a big rush because I only had about an hour to get ready for cheer practice. Usually my mom would make me a meal as soon as I got home. Since I was on two teams I wouldn’t come home till about 9:30 at night so it was very important that I had a filling meal to get me through these tough practices. Today my mom made me a grilled chicken sandwich with an apple. I always appreciated how much my mom helped me whenever I needed her. She was always there to support me.
Throughout my high school years, instead of hanging out with my school friends after school and on the weekends, I always had cheer. Practices were Sunday through Thursday and competitions were every other weekend. Basically, I didn’t have time for anything else but cheer. EAT SLEEP CHEER. As corny as that saying is, it was the total truth.
Today is the first practice of the season. My team Entourage is expected to do great things this year because of the very successful season we had previous. We won most of the competitions we went to and always had people talking about our performances. Despite all our success, we did have one incredibly devastating loss at the end of the season. It was a two-day competition in Florida known as nationals. It was our biggest competition of the whole season. Day one we had a perfect performance. We were on cloud nine knowing that going into day two we were sitting in the first-place spot. All we had to do was repeat what we had done on day one and we would be champions! However, we were not so lucky the last day. We had one small mistake only worth .05 in deductions on the scores. That was just enough to drop us to second place. We were in severe shock when the called us second at awards. It completely crushed us. Although this had a huge impact on our teams spirit we were never a team to accept defeat. It gave us the motivation we needed to do even better this season. That was one of the many great things about my team. We always picked each other off the floor, brushed our shoulders off and kept going. Coming into the gym that day I could tell in everyone’s eyes that they were just as hungry and eager as I was to prove everyone wrong. This was our redemption year. The smell of icy hot and deodorant filled the room. The warm up room was always filled with chaos. All I hear is voices of laughter and motivational speeches being spread throughout different conversations. I can hear the medical tape being teared up into pieces and being wrapped onto a lot of different body parts. Shoulders, wrists, knees, ankles, and feet were the prime injures for cheerleaders. We got beat up a lot so most of us are covered in tape and braces so we don’t hurt ourselves even more. I find a spot next to my best friends on the team.
“Hey dev!” Julia shouts. “You ready for the worst 4 hours of our life’s?”
“No not at all. I should probably double up on icy hot”
“Good idea.”
Julia and I were one of the few that cheered on two teams. It was nice having her by my side who I could relate to about having not one but 2 practices a night. We both knew the struggle and we could lean on each other when we needed an extra push.
“Alright Entourage, time for practice. Run some laps around the building and then come inside and stretch quickly. We’ve got a lot of work to do tonight ladies.” Coach Gabe announces loudly into the warm up room.
After we finished up stretching, we knew it was time to put in work. Sometimes during practices, we tend to goof off once in a while. Today was not the day for games. Everyone was very focused and ready to try anything. A big part of making the team stronger was we needed to get more skills. We knew going into this season that getting those new skills would be very important. After were finished warming up basic tumbling passes and jumps, coach Gabe splits the team up in half and tells us to go on either back corner of the mat.
“I want to see your best tumbling pass and don’t hold anything back” Gabe says
One by one each person throws their pass. Some of the passes were roundoff through to layouts, roundoff through to fulls, punch front throughs etc. Many were throwing skills that have never tried before or were too afraid to go for until this moment. Everyone on the team was so ecstatic for one another. We all know everyone’s weaknesses and strengths on team and we all encourage each other to go for the challenges that frighten us the most. For me, coming off an injury from last season I was still trying to get certain skills back. Last season I tore my meniscus doing a round off through to layout. When I landed, my knee was straight and it hyper extended. I ended up having to get surgery on it. My recovery time was most of the season so I wasn’t allowed to compete until it was fully healed. I was next up to go for my pass. I was so nervous to go. I kept letting my teammate in front of me. I saw a couple of my teammates go for passes I knew they were also struggling on. They all executed them perfectly. The positive energy in the room was so powerful it gave me enough courage to just go for it. My heart was racing. The only voices I hear are from my teammate cheering me on.
“Go for it Devon”
“You got this!”
“push through your toes, set up high, hallow out and pull” Coach Gabe yells
I was about to attempt the same pass that tore my meniscus just last season. I decided to listen to my teammates and just go for it.
I gave myself one last pep talk.
“I got this! nothing to be afraid of. I know how to do this”
I took one last long breath and went for it. As soon as I landed it I heard everybody screaming for me. It was the best feeling in the world. We continued to have this motivational energy throughout the whole practice.
As the season continued that year, our team managed to keep that same motivation throughout the whole season. As for our redemption at nationals, we ended up taking 2nd place out of 22 other teams. Even though we didn’t take the first-place win, we accomplished so much as a team. That alone feels just as good as 1st place. If I ever have the chance to use a time machine, I wouldn’t even have to think twice about it. I would go back to my cheerleading days. Cheerleading made me the happiest person and I loved every single person there like they were my own family. Whenever I am feeling homesick about cheerleading, I like to look at all my old videos and pictures. The smell of icy hot alone will bring right back to that very moment. I still have all my old uniforms and shoes that I will never get rid of.