Ambassador Feature: Jessica Ziolkowski
“Just love who you are. . .“
CHEERFIT AMBASSADOR FEATURE: JESSICA ZIOLKOWSKI
The CHEERFIT ambassador community is filled with leaders and motivators who all share a passion for fitness, love for cheering and drive to help inspire others.
Our ambassadors share with us their personal stories and obstacles they overcome along the way. We have an amazing community of athletes who fuel their passion and determination with the CHEERFIT lifestyle.
TELL US SOMETHING YOU ARE PASSIONATE ABOUT OR A PERSONAL STORY/MESSAGE YOU’D LOVE TO SHARE WITH THE CHEERFIT COMMUNITY:
As athletes, we tend not to think about how we look – we just feel confident in our own skin. But sometimes that thought comes into our heads when we look on social media or looking in the mirror, and we ask ourselves “Am I fat?”, “Do I need to lose some weight?”. These questions get bigger and possibly more dangerous.
Body image is huge in today’s society . . . today’s society is full of judgement and hate. This topic hits home for me very well and maybe some of you. If you do not know who I am, I am Jessica Ziolkowski, I’m sixteen years old, and have been cheering for eleven years.
Since fifth grade I have been bullied for the way I walk, for maybe having a little Polish accent and being a bit special. To me, this was just a little thing that I thought would go away in middle school. Middle school was just a wreck for me, in eighth grade body image changed very quickly. Since we do have some younger ambassadors I will not mention what I had, but some medical issues that no one should ever go through because they think they need to lose weight.
It has been three years since all of this has happened and I am still recovering. If you had seen me even two years ago, you would be very surprised where I was in my life. I still did cheer, but I was not allowed to be on a level higher than a one, which is still a pretty impressive division in the cheer world. But to me, being on a level one meant I was never going to grow.
Everything did change – I started to love who I was, love how I looked, and most importantly did not let a number destroy my life anymore…
Here we are a couple years later, yes I am still recovering but eating healthy foods, working out to get better at the sport that I feel in love with, and of course being able to experience the life that I deserve. Weight is just a number that we all do care about, but is it really that important? As athletes we should not be worried about it. CHEERFIT has helped me with this because it has given me the workout support that I needed. The workouts are safe and enough to help me get the muscle I need for cheer. It has also given me a community I can trust and always count on when I need that extra push. This is why I want to start this campaign – this topic is not talked about and it needs to be heard. CHEERFIT will be a part of this because we love to workout and get the body we love.
Thank you to everyone that took the time to read about this topic that needs to be heard. I am always here whenever anyone needs to talk or has a question. There is a quote I got from a friend when I was going through a difficult times, “God gives us the hardest challenges because he knows we can handle them.”
– CHEERFIT Ambassador Jessica Ziolkowski
ARE YOU INVOLVED IN ANY VOLUNTEER OR NONPROFIT AND HOW DO YOU MOTIVATE OTHERS?
I volunteer at a park district, close to where I live and I help coach group of girls with basketball and football cheer. I just want to put the smile on their face when they do an amazing sport that everyone thinks is not a sport.
WHAT ARE SOME OF YOUR ACCOMPLISHMENTS?
My accomplishments are small, but huge in my eyes. My biggest one in cheer would have to be my BHS because I used to never have enough arm strength since my medical issues, and now that I have been doing everything the strength is back.
WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE PART ABOUT BEING A CHEERFIT AMBASSADOR?
My favorite part has to be the support group that it has become. It’s not just about being an ambassador . . . it’s about being in a community that will love and support you no matter what!
BEING AN AMBASSADOR HELPED ME . . .
. .get the confidence I need to love myself!
WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE TO TELL OTHER PEOPLE WHO WANT TO BECOME A CHEERFIT AMBASSADOR?
Be an ambassador – you don’t know who’s life you will change!
WHAT 3 THINGS ARE ALWAYS IN YOUR CHEER BAG?
Knee brace, 2016 bronze worlds medal, and my CHEERFIT ambassador postcards
FAVORITE SONG TO JAM OUT TO DURING A SWEAT SESH:
Anything from any Broadway show!
WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE EXERCISE?
Anything with Abs
FAVORITE QUOTE:
“God gives us the hardest challenges because he knows we can get through them.”
FUN FACT ABOUT ME:
Not a lot of people know, but I’m in the musical theatre business. So I’m a triple threat with an extra kick!
ANYTHING ELSE YOU’D LIKE TO SHARE?
Just love who you are! Judgement is hard, but if you have the confidence by loving who you are, all of it will go away❤️
Thank you so much for sharing your story and message with us Jessica! We are so proud to have you in the CHEERFIT family, bringing such an important topic to us and drawing from a personal experience. We completely agree that confidence and loving yourself is key. Our hope for the ambassador movement is for all of our leaders in the program to inspire others through positivity and their cheer fitness journey. We wish you so much luck and continued success and look forward to your many accomplishments! 🙂
#CHEERFITSTRONG
Stay FIT <3,
your CHEERFIT team
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