Annika Powers '24 Recruiting Profile

My name is Annika Powers and I am currently a Sophomore at Trinity Christian Academy in Addison, TX, right outside of Dallas.

I am a strong student with a cumulative GPA of 3.8 thus far.  I am a smart but also outgoing, friendly, and charismatic person with great emotional intelligence and people skills.  My mom says I can sell “Ice to Eskimos”!  When I began taking my honors Entrepreneurship course during my sophomore year, I knew immediately I had found my calling.  My goal is to study business to learn all the facets necessary of running your own business as that would be my dream to do one day.  So my dream college would have a very strong business program with opportunities to meet real world business leaders and secure internships that would prepare me for the future.

I grew up in cheerleading.  It all started when I was three years old, at WOGA in Plano, doing gymnastics multiple times a week.  I competed in gymnastics at WOGA for a few years but during late elementary school, I decided to transition from gymnastics to cheer.  I feel blessed to live in Dallas, because not only is one the World’s best gymnastics facilities here, but the Cheer Gym that consistently wins the most NCA, World and Summit Titles is, as well.  So naturally, I enrolled at Cheer Athletics in Plano, starting with Prep Teams and ultimately working my way up to their World’s Team.  Over the years, Cheer Athletics, my team mates and coaches became my second family.  During peak competition season, I spent more time at the gym with my cheer friends and teammates than I did at home with my parents. 

While cheer is hard work, there are so many life lessons I learned in cheer, from the time I was just a little girl.  Those lessons will stay with me always and are so invaluable to me today.    

From a young age, I had to learn to focus for long periods of time, do my best, and perform under pressure always.  Being able to multitask and focus and be able to perform under pressure has really helped me do well in school and in testing situations as I do not get flustered. 

We have to work together, as a team and stunt group.  That meant putting in the extra time, work and effort, as a team, but also supporting each other when one member of the team was having a bad time or difficult time.  Sometimes, it meant having difficult conversations, being flexible, and being a leader some of the time and a follower another time. 

Since cheer took up a lot of my free time, I learned from an early age that one must sacrifice and work hard for what they want.  Everything is earned, and not given, and that’s my life motto.  I have worked extremely hard for every skill and every team position that I had, so that I can be the best possible version of myself.  With that, I had to learn to sacrifice.  For example, I missed countless birthday parties, school dances and other functions that friends who weren’t involved in sports to my level could attend.  While that is hard to do in the moment, I have learned to laser focus on my goals and not get sidetracked by things that would be nice, but not that important in the grand scheme of things.

The beauty of cheer to me is the built-in community.  I love the sport itself, but there is just something about 20 other athletes that share your passion for the sport.  People you end up spending your free time with that become lifelong friends. 

At our school, 10^th graders cannot make Varsity Cheer, as Varsity is reserved for 11^th and 12^th graders only.  However, I was honored to be unanimously elected JV Cheer Captain for the 2021-22 School year, which is something I am very proud of.  I credit my time in competitive cheer for giving me the tools and character qualities needed to effectively lead my school team. 

I was also proud to recently have been selected as one of just 2 JV Cheer team members to be “on mat” with our Varsity Team at TAAPS. 

In addition to cheer and academics, I am also a believer and attend a Christian School.  I like to give back and help others and completed many hours of community service.

I help coach two prep cheer teams consisting of middle school age girls.  Every season, I am excited to go to competition with them. 

I was honored to be coaching a special needs cheer team at CA Plano called “Superkatz” and even performed with them on the floor at NCA.  One had to be chosen to coach this team, another opportunity I earned that was not given – before being allowed to serve in this way, I spent two years as a CA Ambassador helping with community events.  Coaching a special needs team was unlike anything I had ever experienced.  The smile of my little buddy Maddison’s face when she mastered her cartwheel at NCA was priceless – Maddison has down syndrome.  The parents of special needs kids face so much rejection and so many obstacles in their daily life, and to see those kids blossom in cheer and parents crying tears of joy – forgetting about their daily difficulties for 2 ½ minutes – is something I will always hold dear and never forget. 

So you might wonder why I am giving you all these details about me and my life thus far.  I am looking for my college experience to combine all the things I am passionate about that I described. 

I would like to attend a college with great academics with a strong business program, a cheer team to allow me to continue living my passion for the sport and to make like-minded friends and lastly a Christian or values-oriented environment where I can continue to give back to the community. 

Thank you for reading my essay.

Sincerely,

Annika Powers