Taj Mariano-Perez cheers at the USA Spirit Nationals.
As devoted student athletes are getting ready to head off to college, a few students have chosen to commit through sports, a chance sought after by many athletes. Senior Taj Mariano-Perez was one of those student- athletes who committed to his sport, cheerleading, at CSU Northridge.
Mariano-Perez has been cheering since sophomore year and it has become his passion ever since. He was previously on the Cal-Star All-Stars cheer team for a year, which
opened up more opportunities for him to improve his skills. After competing with the San Marin High School cheer team at USA Spirit Nationals, Mariano-Perez got offered a position at CSU Northridge.
“When I was first offered, I felt shivers because of the excitement I felt knowing I could become a better athlete and well-rounded person on a collegiate team,” Mariano-Perez said.
Mariano-Perez felt tense knowing that he wanted to hear from other schools, but he was mostly excited about hearing back from CSU Northridge. Mariano-Perez felt confident taking the offer from this collegiate team; the skills that are usually performed on this team are skills that he has been working on himself.
Senior Kelly Erol, former teammate of Mariano-Perez, is happy for him receiving the offer, and will potentially try out for the same team as him.
“I am very proud of him and how much he has been accomplishing,” Erol said.
Erol and Mariano-Perez have been on the same high school varsity cheerleading team since junior year.
While this opportunity has been exciting, there are different roller coasters of emotions flowing through his mind.
“The only thing hard about fully committing was acknowledging the fact I am going to have to work hard and know how to listen in a new environment,” Mariano-Perez said.
Another thing that is challenging to Mariano- Perez is knowing that he won’t be able to see his family very often like he currently does. It can be challenging for those who are not ready to leave their families, but have something to motivate them to push through.
“One of the goals I have is to make sure that everyone is supporting each other, whether it be a success or a failure, that we are inclusive and overall cohesive,” Mariano-Perez said.
