By: Kaela Halvorson [Design Editor] @kaelahalvorson

Stepping into the Vernon cafeteria for a long and sweaty practice, she sees her other teammates stretching and getting ready to work on their routine. The music starts they all move together, one jump at a time. The Marion Poms Team is headed to Disney World, Florida for the UDA Nationals Competition in the next upcoming week, and they have a chance to advance to the next round and dance their hearts out three different times.

In eight days Alyssa Swanson and her team will be performing the routine that they have been learning, cleaning, and perfecting since the summer. Needless to say, Swanson  is excited, “I have a countdown on my phone,” said Swanson. Poms has been going all year and the girls have been practicing and working hard to get their ticket to Nationals. A little luck and a lot of work has given them the opportunity of a lifetime, they get to spend three days having fun performing and making memories as a team. It shows that hard work does pay off.

As far as practices go they have been hard and long, “I had a 6 hour practice yesterday,” said Swanson. They have been practicing this dance since June and she feels like they will do great. If they work hard and put their practice into their performance they will do great. As far as missing school and having a lot of homework Swanson said, “I don’t think it will be a problem, I have pretty easy classes.” So, making up classes will be more than worth it because she will have a fun six days away from any stress.