Cheerleading springboards Stevenson to Milligan

This story first appeared in the Elizabethton Star on Saturday, Nov. 8.
By Bryce Phillips

For one Hampton High School cheerleader, it was signs from above and here on earth that put her on the path to Milligan College. 

Friday, in a library filled with friends and family, senior Tessa Stevenson happily applied her signature as she signed on with the Buffaloes' cheerleading squad. 

"It's great," said Stevenson about her future with Milligan. "I mean, I have been cheering since I was three, and to be able to do it for four more years is great. I just wasn't ready to give it up. God laid out Milligan and the cheer coach and everything else, and just showed me where I should be." 

Stevenson recalls many funny moments from her time with Hampton, but one stands out to her more than others. 

With some of the other cheerleaders out sick during a game at Unicoi High School, Stevenson was elected to be a flyer, which 

is something she does only on occasion. 

"They were like, 'You are going to fly' And I was like, 'Oh, thanks guys,'" she said. "So, I was flying with a sign. Well, I get my little sign and I go up. And the whole time I was worried about the sign being upside down." 

While up in the air, she began to notice that people were yelling at her, and it was at that moment, when she noticed that the sign was not upside down, but backwards with the blank side facing the crowd. 

"I was like, 'Dang it', " said Stevenson with a laugh. "So I flipped it over, and it's upside down. And I was like, 'I just give up.'" It was an emotional afternoon for Stevenson's mother, Cindy, who said she is very proud of her daughter and her decision. 

"It is a very mature decision," she said about her daughter's choice to go to Milligan. "I wish I would have had that much maturity at that age, knowing what she wants to do, where she wanted to go and what career she wanted to pursue." 

Like her mother, Stevenson's father, Doug, is also very happy with how his daughter has grown up and her ability to achieve what she wants to do. 

"She set a goal," he said. "She ascertained the decisions she would have to make to attain it - and went out to achieve it." 

The Stevensons' favorite thing about their daughter's choice is the fact that she will not be to far away from home. 

"She is far enough away that she will be on her own," said Cindy Stevenson. "But she is close enough to home that if something happens we can get to her quickly. " 

The two happy parents said they will also be putting on orange and black and making their way to as many Milligan games as they can. 

Hampton's head cheerleading coach Micah Morton had many great things to say about Stevenson, a young lady she has coached for four years. 

"Tessa has been one of the most dedicated girls that I have had," she said. "She is always there, and she goes beyond what we ask of her. She is an excellent cheerleader and she has a lot of school spirit. And it has been great coaching her over the last four years." 

Milligan's head cheerleading coach Ronda Paulson said she only looks for the best when she searches for new members to add to her team, and that Stevenson was exactly what she was looking for. 

"I'm looking someone who is a natural leader," she said. "Tessa has been apart of leadership program at Milligan and I have heard great things about her. I'm looking for someone who is going to do great academically, and she has done great academically. And that just lets me know that she can succeed at Milligan. I've seen her cheer and she is a great cheerleader. To me, she was just the all-around girl that I was looking for." 

Stevenson, who currently has a 4.0 GPA, said she plans to study politcal science and psychology. And when she is finished at Milligan, she hopes to go onto to law school.

For more from the Elizabethton Star, visit www.elizabethton.com.