Thank you, UP Pep Squad, for bringing up my nonexistent dancing skills in ordinary conversation. I took up ballet when I was younger, and took up tap dance and street dance for my PE in college, but I still feel like I’m about to knock down a Ming vase every single time I “dance.”

I still do the robot thing at parties, in a worst-case scenario, I jump up and down and turn around a couple of times. My mom now wants me to take up dance lessons; I am dreading the day when she drags me to a dance studio, and I find myself the only adult in a room of four year olds.

Thank you, UP Pep Squad, for doing routines that make me wish I didn’t have the balance of a newborn penguin. Whenever I see you perform, the entire squad seems to be on “code red,” which in this case is probably code for “Get out of the building, they’re gonna bring the house down!” You guys combine grace, strength, swagger and talent so flawlessly that I have to pinch myself once in a while to check if this is real. If I ever get the gumption to do what you do on a daily basis, I will probably have 103 of my 206 bones fractured right now, if my balance is any indication. As the kind of girl who trips randomly on a daily basis, I think it will probably be safer if I cheer at the top of my lungs.

Defying gravity

Thank you, UP Pep Squad, for learning how to defy gravity before you graduate. The rest of us are still working on our freshman-year Calculus, or senior-year Physics, but you guys have already figured it out.  You look good, and yes, you did rock the blonde hair and the cone bras. I don’t think Einstein or Newton could have rocked the cone bras, so kudos.

Kidding aside, thank you, UP Pep Squad, for giving Iskos and Iskas everywhere something to be proud of. We understand how difficult it is to come up with a concept and build on it—especially given your recent history and the pressure that comes with defending the crown—but you have never let us down. The fact that you do this year after year is wonder in itself, actually.

You always give it your all, and that we appreciate and love.

Thank you, UP Pep Squad, for always standing by our team. You probably get the most exposure during the UAAP Cheerdance Competition, but for the UP community, we will always remember the team’s constant presence in all of the university’s sports.  You cheer for all of our sports, this reminds the rest of us,  there is no “one great sport.”  All of them deserve our attention, and that talent and heart can be found everywhere, if we would only take the time to look around.

This is why, we are more than happy to show our support for the squad during the pep rallies and during the UAAP Cheerdance Competition, because it’s the least we can do for the people who support us at every step of the game, every single year. We will take the epic lines, the inflated prices, and the nervous wait, because we know that the payoff will be more than worth it. And when we come to school, we will mime, proud of the fact that we lost our voice watching you perform.

Art of cheerdancing

Thanks for showing everyone that “fun” isn’t the exclusive domain of amusement parks, playgrounds, Spongebob, and the “cool” people—it’s for the nerds, too. When you do a hair toss, lift a cheerleader, or strike that pose; you make us smile, and you make us realize that in as much as cheerdance is an exact science, it is also art—the art of making the complicated seem effortless. The art of always touching base with your audience and the art of making them return to the Coliseum, year after year. It’s an art form you excel in, and one you continue to push forward. To watch you guys perform is to feel, almost instantly, goosebumps on one’s skin and a grin on one’s lips.

Last, but not the least: Thank you, UP Pep Squad, for teaching us that in life, it’s the little things that matter. It’s that pride in your step, that zeal in your eyes, that determination channeled through your limbs. It’s the pulsating energy in every drum beat, and the roar of the maddening crowd. It’s these seemingly little things that create an extraordinary experience. You were right to do Madonna this year, guys, because you are, and will always be, our ray of light.

The author is a magna cum laude graduate of BA Broadcast Communication from the College of Mass Communication, UP Diliman.