For decades, walking down the 50 yard-line has been a tradition treasured and looked forward to by generations of seniors. Well, not this senior. As of this year, my moment was stolen.

I have been a Raiderette for four years, performing at every football game on the same lines that I watched seniors walk down three times. With each senior game I counted down the years until my name would be called and I could strut down, the attention on me in the center of the field. After years of anticipation, I found out in August that I would not be model walking through SH and down the spray-painted lines.

Beyond ruining my chance in the spotlight, I felt like I wasn’t receiving adequate recognition for the four years of work I had put in. I had captains practices in the rain, spent hours budgeting with sticky ones from bake sales, and performed many a kickline with shin splints. And all of that hard work just to not walk down the football field as a celebration of my four amazing years (which would have been more amazing if they had stuck to tradition, just saying).

While there were issues with mobility, several proud family members have crutched, wheeled, and used walkers to escort their seniors. The main problem was with the football team, and the penalties that would ensue if we surpassed the twenty-minute limit. All for a 1-9 season…

I know what you’re thinking: it’s so selfish to tell them to suck it up since they’re already going to lose! Not when the football team captains agreed to take the penalties to let us walk down the field. Now if that’s not school spirit, I don’t know what is. Unfortunately our efforts were unsuccessful, so my name was called in a sea of people while I got clipped without warning by several photographers. Many seniors didn’t know where to stand with their families, so no one could see when their name was called. It was probably the most underwhelming moment of my entire high school career.

And all of that for us to still run over time.