Senior Athlete Spotlight: Monica Lassiter

by: Shardea Armstrong 

I caught up with former cheer captain now track athlete, Monica Lassiter. We spoke about her high school experience juggling sports, academics, her activities outside of school.

I asked Monica why she decided to step back at the cheer captain in her senior year, she had this to say, “I’d rather have a peace of mind then be somewhere I find toxic.” 

It seems that things aren't peaches and cream on the cheerleading team. I followed up her response by asking, “Is there a lot of drama on the cheerleading team?”

To which she said,  “Not necessarily. But when it’s good it can be fun. But when it gets bad...the energy becomes negative. It’s something I didn’t want to be around."

Monica admits that she finds that track is much less stressful and easier to enjoy now. After quitting cheerleading Monica started track. So I asked if she liked track better. She said, "Yes." When I asked Monica if she could see herself taking up either of these sports in college she responded, “No. That's why I didn't care about leaving cheerleading." Monica doesn't see a future for herself in either sport. She also said she doesn't like participating in sports at this point in her high school career. 

Monica has a job outside of school so I asked her if she found it hard to multitasking school, sports, and work. She said, "It's not hard, its mostly tiring” 

With such a busy schedule it can be hard to find the time to chill. So I asked Monica what she does to unwind. She said, "It all depends on if I have to work throughout the whole weekend or not. If I don't,  I usually just use the whole weekend to chill.”

 Monica still plans to push through until the end of the season and she has no regrets. I asked her if she would do things differently and opt out of school sports if she could do it all again.  Monica said, She said that she wouldn't do anything differently. Personally, I think Monica deserves a round of applause for being able as much as she has been handling for the past four years and remaining positive through it all. I wish I could multitask and make it seem easy in the process.