By MONTANA MCCULLOUGH
Student Writer
It’s late at night before a basketball game and the cheerleaders are practicing stunts before the game. Everything was going like it was suppose to until a fall changed a girl’s life.
Jordan Cremers, a senior social work major from Ponca City, had a girl fall on her during that practice that could have paralyzed her. But after she got the diagnosis, she didn’t let that stop her from being happy. For most of her life, Cremers had been cheerleading. She attended Northern Oklahoma College in Tonkawa on a cheerleading scholarship.“I wanted to go to a school where in the class I wasn’t one of 200,” Cremers said. While at NOC, she competed at the national cheerleading competition two years in a row. Cremers received her associate’s degree from NOC then she transferred to Northwestern Oklahoma State University to continue her education.Once Cremers got to Northwestern, she was on the cheerleading squad for one year. During that year, Cremers had a girl fall on top of her during practice and she was no longer able to cheer.
Cremers had to adjust to a new life that didn’t involve cheering.“I had to surround myself with positive people,” Cremers said. “It was hard not cheering and I had to be around people that I knew didn’t care if I cheered or not.”
Cremers decided after the incident that she wanted to help people. “I chose social work because I wanted to be there for people when they were going through difficult times,” Cremers said.
After her cheering career was over, Cremers was able to make more time to hang out with her friends and family. “I really miss cheering but I don’t think I would be the person I am if I was still cheering,” she said.