A pair of California High School students is spending the week in Hawaii after being selected to perform in the Varsity Spirit Pearl Harbor Memorial Parade in Honolulu on Dec. 7.
CHS senior Jordyn Winter and junior Megan Arnold are part of a group of more than 600 cheerleaders and dancers from across the country that were selected to make the trek for the parade, along with a host of other events on an itinerary taking place Dec. 5-8. That group is comprised of individuals chosen as All-Americans during Varsity Spirit summer camps throughout the country. Selected based on tryouts, only the top 10 percent of cheerleaders and dancers earn a chance to participate in a holiday parade of this caliber, according to a news release about the event.
The parade commemorates the 80th anniversary since the attack on Pearl Harbor. Winter and Arnold were able to take part in a performance prior to the parade's opening ceremony and then were a part of the parade itself Tuesday, performing for the observers lining Waikiki Beach.
Prior to the parade, the pair was able to spend their time outside of rehearsal touring Pearl Harbor, making a visit at the USS Arizona Memorial and the USS Missouri, and attended a luau Monday.
Winter and Arnold elected to arrive to Hawaii earlier -- along with members of their families -- last Thursday, as it's their first time in the state. It had been a fun trip so far, the pair agreed early Sunday morning, though not without some unexpected elements.
"The weather changes a lot though, I didn't know it did that," Arnold said. "...It'll rain for like five seconds and then it'll be hot."
It's certainly a departure from Missouri. That much is true of where the pair and their families are staying, too -- they said they're in a hotel right off the beach, where they can watch surfers coasting the waves every morning from their rooms.
Winter said one of the coolest parts of the trip for her as of Sunday was their visit to Pearl Harbor. She said seeing the USS Arizona Memorial was more "touching" than she would have thought beforehand. Since it's a grave site, Winter said it was powerful to hear about the history.
And Arnold said they could even see parts of the ship that were still under water.
"The way that they described the ship and its origins, and how they lost their crew members, it was something else," Winter said.
When they were speaking to the Democrat on Sunday, Winter and Arnold had yet to participate in a four-hour Monday morning practice with the other 600 plus participants in preparation for Tuesday's parade.
On top of dancers and cheerleaders, the pair said bands and singers were also performing. The scale of the event had started to become more clear to them Sunday -- Arnold noted that they thought it was an opportunity just for cheerleaders when they first heard about it, but it's really "for Hawaii," that thousands of people were coming to see it.
"It's stressful, but it's an amazing opportunity," Arnold said.
And Winter joked she was starting to get a little nervous.
It helps, though, that other participants they'd met as of Sunday were nice, and that the pair had at least a small feeling of familiarity from participating in other cheer leading camps before.
"It's kind of like a reassuring thing, but it's also that we're all nervous for this opportunity," Winter said.
And there were still things to look forward to as of Sunday that brought less of a feeling of nervousness. The pair had yet to experience the luau, and both said they were excited to see something like that in person.
Even after the parade is finished, Winter, Arnold and their families will have more time to experience Hawaii. They said the plan is to stay until Thursday before heading home, making sure both families get an extended stay.
For now, they're still enjoying a visit to a place filled with, in their words, the kindest locals and the "best" food.
Submitted
California High School cheerleaders Jordyn Winter and Megan Arnold have been making the most of their trip to Hawaii, along with their families.