It’s funny how life works isn’t it? It is like spring. It starts to pour outside, and you feel like it will never past- but it does- bringing beautiful flowers with it: daisies, dandelions, and daffodils that scatter across the damp grass. The clouds begin to part, and the sun shined so bright reflecting on the wet surfaces. It makes me smile. The smell of soil and seeing the beautiful hummingbirds and cardinals fly across the sky.  
This is how it felt when I didn’t make it on Varsity my junior year. All the signs were there, leading me to hope but they didn’t see me as good enough, at least I thought. Was I good enough? That was all I thought about at night. I cried for hours not understanding. My thoughts were blurred, and I went back to a time that previous year where I wanted to quit. I knew I couldn’t. I at least got to be captain. I couldn’t leave and let this team down. I couldn’t let the new freshman coming in down. I couldn’t let other girls who ended up in the same position as me down. I couldn’t let my friends down. I couldn’t let the people who supported me through all these years I've done this sport down. I wasn’t the only one going through this and it would be wrong of me to be selfish. Nobody likes to feel rejected after all the hard work they put into something.  
But still I reminded myself: everything happens for a reason. 
I cried then, but now I laugh. I look back at that time and reflect that being a part of Junior Varsity was the best thing that happened to me that year. My cheer season wasn’t over just because of one bump in the road. The only thing I had to do was jump over it. I met the greatest people, worked extremely hard to improve my skills, and did, and even went to Disney and finals for the first time, where we got 9th in the nation. This just goes to show everything does happen for a reason. If I was on Varsity, I would have not had this opportunity to be up on the finals mat with some of the best teams. You might not be able to see it in the meantime, but you can’t let that stop you from remembering there will be good at the end of the tunnel. Nothing can come close to the bond we had. From constant hangouts to our support, we gave each other before we went out and touch that mat. You just need to stay positive. Remind yourself that the sun will shine again and will bring some beautiful things with it. Yes, the flowers need the sun to thrive, but they also need the rain to grow and become something greater. Just like we need hardships to grow and become stronger.