Angela Bernard

For a little girl, who was raised by a single mother and didn't really have a father figure in much of her childhood, she wanted not very much in the world. That little girl, I'm grateful to call my mom. My mom didn't have much of a relationship with her father, my grandpa, until she was probably a young adult. My mom raised two kids, one would be me, mostly all by herself. My older sister, who is eight years older than me, did have a relationship with our dad. On the other hand, my dad wasn't there for majority of mine. We are originally from California and we moved to South Dakota about ten years ago. So it has been a little bit hard to have a relationship when we live 3,000 miles away, but even when we lived in California, he wasn't really there for me. 

My mom is my hero, because she gave up a lot for me and she's always there when I need her. She has sacrificed a lot for me so I can do the things that I wanted to do. She always made sure that I was always fed, clothed, and any other thing before herself. She is a selfless woman and she's always there for everyone before she takes care of herself. She's always willing to do anything for anyone that she really cares about and will do any and everything to protect her family. My mom is the person I can always go to when I'm struggling with something, when I need help with homework or any life problem, or just when I plainly need something to laugh about. She's super caring about others and she makes sure that not just me, but everyone else around her is happy. She loves her family and is super amazing about how much she really cares about people.

My mom, one of the best moms ever!, is a person that never gives up on someone and makes sure that no one is feeling down and is always willing to make someone's day. She is an amazing person and I wouldn't be the woman I am today without her. She has taught me many things over the years, a big example is to make sure to include everyone. That has always been a struggle for me over the years because at my school I never really fit in with a lot of the kids. I always felt that I was left out of things and I never really had many friends in high school. My high school was a school that didn't really feel like you belonged if you didn't have certain things. I grew up with a single parent so I didn't really have many of the things that many of the other students had.

Me and my mom with our state runner-up trophyMyselfOver the last five years, my mom was my Competitive Cheer coach. These were probably the best five years of my life, because know I love cheer more than ever and I got to spend it with my mom. The last three years, we have won state runner-up and it has been so fun and amazing. All because of my mom's hard work in cheer, she was named Cheer Coach of the Year. I was super proud of her because she did work really hard to make sure that we were always ready and was pumped up. My love for cheer really started when my mom first took the football cheer job, when I was in fifth grade. I loved it, I would go to practice with my mom and I would do it with them. I always did it with them at games and it was such a fun time. Then, the first year I made the competitive cheer team, my mom decided to take over. It was a struggle at first to get used to my mom being my coach, but then I got pretty used to it. I wouldn't have changed it for the world. I have put a lot of blood, sweat and tears into cheer, and I never plan to stop being a part of it. It's in my blood, and I can't wait to help other girls in the future! This year was me and my mom's last year as a part of any cheer program. It sucks, but I can't wait to see what the younger girls have in store for the competitive cheer team.