A little fun fact about me: I was the school mascot back in high school. We were the “Raiders” and growing up we had a racially offensive Native American as our mascot. Fast forward to more recent years, the state provided money to our district to help us change our mascot to a more culturally appropriate icon. While we remained the Raiders, our mascot was changed into a wolf. With the funds provided by the state, in addition to the making of new merchandise and signage, a new, impressive mascot suit was bought. I was the first one to bring it to life.
Growing up, I had always been a bit on the shyer side and I tended to stick to what I knew. Of course, as I aged, I became less and less “shy” but I still do not consider myself to be particularly extroverted. I remember it being an ongoing joke among me and my friends that I was to be the mascot and I remember a brief joking conversation with my vice-principal at a school function, but I don’t recall what exactly led up to me becoming Raider the Wolf officially. This extracurricular was extremely out of character for me, and while it was certainly a bit of a strange experience, I grew immensely from my years as Raider the Wolf.
At first, I was really uncomfortable while in the suit, both physically and mentally. Not only was it swelteringly hot (unbearably so), but it was difficult to see, you had no peripheral vision, and it was difficult to walk in the size 11 “feet”. Additionally, I felt awkward and self-conscious knowing that so many people in the gym had their eyes on me. The very first time I was Raider was for a boy’s basketball game in which my main role was to stand with the student section and cheer on the boys through exaggerated movements and dances. I have to say, this first game did not go incredibly well.
With beads of sweat dripping into my eyes standing in front of so many people (even though they couldn’t see me) I kind of froze up a bit. I was awkward and I couldn’t think of anything to do as the Raider character. I danced a little with the student session and took many pictures with both little kids and adults alike but that was about it. And still, by the end of it I was absolutely exhausted (seriously, it felt like I had just run a whole soccer game by the end of the night). And yet, as the only person with experience in the suit (and possibly the only person willing to wear it) I was asked back again, and it only got easier from there.
I attended many home boy’s basketball games that year, slowly becoming more and more familiar and comfortable with my role. Soon, I started practicing certain moves with the cheerleading team to join them for certain dances and cheers, and we eventually got to the point where I was participating in low-level stunts with them. I was having so much fun being the mascot and building its personality that when the Cheerleading coach asked me to officially join the team the following year as a mascot, I accepted.
At this point I was going into my senior year of high school. I worked out a plan with my coaches where I could dual-sport in both Soccer and Fall Cheerleading so it was safe to say the beginning of that year was very busy. As an aside, if you had told me just a year or two before that I would be a cheerleader, I would have laughed in your face. And yet, I had so much fun. I went from standing awkwardly in front of a crowd in a bulky mascot suit to participating in choreographed hip-hop dances and unchoreographed dance battles in front of a stadium full of people (still in the suit of course).
As time progressed and I became more familiar with the cheerleading process however, I realized that something was still missing. While I enjoyed performing as the mascot, I wanted to experience being a “real” cheerleader. I wanted to participate in the stunting, tumbling, and more advanced aspects of the sport. So, in my senior year of high school I signed up for Competitive Winter Cheer (in place of Basketball—a sport I had been playing for a decade but really did not enjoy) and it was honestly the best decision I made in my four years of high school. I made some of my closest friends from that singular season. I grew immensely as a person, I learned my body was capable of so much more than I ever thought possible, and I had fun. Surprisingly enough, I ended the season named a league “All-Star” and an “Exceptional Senior”, two honors I certainly would not have foreseen at the beginning.
Being Raider the mascot opened up so many doors for me that I would not have ever considered. While it was certainly out of my comfort zone and it put me in its fair share of unpleasant situations, I am so thankful I decided to take on this position. My confidence was infinitely boosted, it led me to one of the best sport seasons of my life with some of the best teammates, and it helped me prove to myself that taking risks can bring big rewards.