Bethany Larson

Published by Ozarks Unbound. 

Published by Ozarks Unbound. 

Most people go to football games for the game. I go for the sideline entertainment.

As a retired dance team member, I can’t help myself. Although I like football, my eye goes directly to the sideline. While everyone else stretches, gets drinks, and talks about the game during time-outs, I critique the cheerleaders and dance team. And I’m a pretty tough critic.

 Being from an SEC school, football is king and the sideline entertainment is queen–and she has strict codes of conduct to follow. She should perfectly complement her king, not distract from him. She should get the people who have congregated excited about being in his presence. And she should (I hate to say it, but it’s true) look attractive at all times.

Moving to Syracuse means that I’ve left  the majesty of SEC football behind–and that includes the spirit squad codes of conduct. Apparently the Big East doesn’t take as much stock in it.

The cheerleaders here don’t pay attention to the game, opting to talk amongst themselves instead. They aren’t (again, this is so mean, but true) very attractive and honestly, their “cheer skills” aren’t that great. Sure, they can all do back-hand-springs, and a couple of them can do back tucks and fulls, but as a whole, the tumbling isn’t great. Their stunting wasn’t impressive–the team couldn’t even get a contagion of one handed cupies together.

As for the dance team–their performance was actually good. They stayed together, had floor and level work, and executed double and triple pirouettes without anyone falling out of the turn or messing up the spotting. However, that was about the only good thing. Like the cheerleaders, they talked amongst themselves, their make-up was minimal (when you’re performing, the make-up needs to highlight the eyes, cheeks, and lips so that your face doesn’t disappear in the lights), the sideline dance choreography was unimpressive, and they would inexplicably form a kick-line and count their kicks out loud.

As I stood dumbfounded at what I was witnessing, I suddenly noticed some one. A tall, slender, blonde  majorette, standing dutifully in front of the band. To be honest, I’d never really focused on the majorettes. I knew they twirled batons along with the band and that they wore glittery costumes, but other than that, I was clueless. But this girl made me pay attention.

When the band would play, she would turn to the crowd and perform her choreography. But more than that, this girl engaged the crowd. She smiled, made eye contact, and even when you could tell she felt silly, performed with exuberance. Her baton twirling skills were impressive–she would throw the baton up in the air, execute en-terre illusion spins and grands jetés that were a match for any of the dancers’ abilities, and then catch the baton effortlessly. She also had tricks where she would weave the spinning baton through her elbows and knees or balance the baton on her nose–while I can perform fouettés and barrel rolls, I cannot do any of that.
While watching her perform I realized that she was far more entertaining any of the cheerleaders and dance team members. So, here’s to this attractive band geek, who can not only twirl a baton, but can perform balletic feats while doing it!

This is a piece I wrote for the student blog I co-created and manage for SU Abroad.

So, you’ve gone abroad, had a wonderful time, have come home, and want to go abroad again–but you don’t have the cash to just go. How can this conundrum be remedied? By getting a job teaching abroad.

There are many programs out there that hire people to move to another country and teach English. Although this does require certification and some training, it’s an opportunity to live in another country for up to a year, learn first hand about a different culture and language, and teach others your culture and language. It’s a pretty sweet gig.

Through WorldTeach people volunteer to teach for a year, semester, or summer in a variety of countries. Although this is a “volunteer” program, you do have to pay a bit up front–however, once you arrive, you will be placed with a host family or within housing provided by your institution. There are also some countries where the program fee is covered by the International Education Board, thus making your program free.

Another option is to sign on with the Council on Internatioal Education Exchange , a group that recruits people to teach in Chile, China, South Korea, Spain, and Thailand. These are paid positions that come with a monthly stipend and rent free accommodations.

For many of these programs, no knowledge of the local foreign language is needed–they provide an orientation immersion program that gives you the basic skills to communicate and function in your new environment, and then they assume that through your everyday interactions you will pick up the necessary language skills. Therefore, all you really need is the desire and willingness to move and they give you the rest of the skills you will need.

Although this seems like a huge undertaking, it really isn’t much different from studying abroad. The nice part is that you’re not taking classes–you’re teaching them! These programs give you international job experience that not only satisfy your international desires, but look fantastic on a resume. And it’s a great starter for an interview–think about it. You walk in and are able to tell your future boss that you spent a year (or semester) teaching English in a foreign country. If they’re not impressed by that, you probably wouldn’t want to work for them anyway.

This is from a column I write called “Pop Goes the Culture” that is hosted by Jerk Magazine