Ole Miss cheerleader Alexis Anzalone is saying goodbye to her beloved school next month, and she has had one incredible journey.
“I didn’t take my journey here to Ole Miss alone,” Anzalone said. “I came to school with my identical twin sister, Ashley, where we cheered together, lived together and shared great memories together. My sister was always moral support through everything; she was my personal coach through cheerleading and study buddy.”
Anzalone is from Edwardsville, Illinois, and is an elementary education major with a dual certification in mild and moderate special education. She explained her decision to come to Ole Miss by saying, “I chose to come to Ole Miss because I wanted to experience the SEC and the South. I came to visit and fell in love with Ole Miss’ beautiful campus. Ole Miss is the perfect school, it’s a school with a big atmosphere feel to it, but yet still a smaller school compared to others.”
Anzalone started cheering when she was in middle school. She cheered for sports such as basketball, football, as well as on a competitive team. She became an Ole Miss cheerleader in 2010.
“I come from a very supportive family. My parents have always taught me that when I go for something to go full out giving 110 percent,” she said. “I decided in high school that I wanted to cheer in college. Therefore, my family started researching college clinics for me to attend. I started going to collegiate clinics all throughout high school. My senior year of high school, after I committed to Ole Miss, I attended Ole Miss’ last cheer clinic for the year at the end of February before tryouts in April.
“After the clinic, until tryouts, I took off school every Friday to drive 400 miles to attend Ole Miss’ open gym and to attend private lessons from pervious cheerleaders in preparation for tryouts. Tryouts started on a Friday afternoon and ran through Saturday. The tryouts consisted of cheer, dance, stunting, and a fitness test. There were a total of three cuts and the final cut was posted on Saturday evening.”
Anzalone’s favorite experience of Ole Miss has been, “being a part of the University of Mississippi varsity Spirit Squad for four years. I supported the Ole Miss men’s basketball team, and the football team throughout their seasons, along with representing the University in Paris, France, and at College Nationals ranking in the top 10 and top 5 throughout my years cheering.
Outside of her cheering life, Anzalone recalled, “some of my most memorable times were working with Horizons National Summer Program which focuses on closing the achievement gap for low-income children in the Oxford community by offering a high quality learning experience. I participated in the club Teachers of Tomorrow that promotes education within the community: reading readiness, a Dr. Seuss workshop, book drives, and Halloween haunted house for children of all ages and much more. I have also participated in the Big Event, a community service event for the Oxford community and the Daddy Daughter Dance sponsored by Chick-Fil-A.”
There are many aspects of Ole Miss that graduates say that they wish they could be apart of again. What Anzalone will miss the most is, “My friendships I have made over the years at Ole Miss.”
Anzalone is spending her final semester at Ole Miss, “student teaching in a second grade classroom at Davidson Elementary in Water Valley, MS,” Anzalone said. The advice she said she would give to her freshman self is, “to not fret the small things in life, and to take one day at a time and enjoy every moment of it.”
Anzalone has big plans for the future. “I hope to find myself in the spring of 2015 starting a new school year as an elementary educator with 20 little ones on my side. I hope to continue cheerleading through coaching in the schools. Later, I plan to further my education by obtaining my masters,” Anzalone said.
Anzalone is good at balancing a hectic schedule and this will help her toward her future career in education. Let’s hope she will come back and visit her alma mater cheering for the Rebels.
Molly Brosier is a HottyToddy.com staff reporter and can be reached at mebrosie@go.olemiss.edu.
