Brianna White-Bueno is a girl on the move. Between softball,
student government, homework and
– her favorite – cheerleading, her mother says that keeping up
with her 13-year old daughter can sometimes pose a challenge. But
if you can’t keep a good man down, White-Bueno is living proof that
it’s doubly hard to do so to a cheerleader.
Hollister – Brianna White-Bueno is a girl on the move. Between softball, student government, homework and – her favorite – cheerleading, her mother says that keeping up with her 13-year old daughter can sometimes pose a challenge. But if you can’t keep a good man down, White-Bueno is living proof that it’s doubly hard to do so to a cheerleader.
White-Bueno was born without a hip socket on the left side of her body and a short femur – doctors didn’t believe that she would ever be able to walk. When she was 5 years old, she underwent a dramatic surgery amputating her leg and was fitted with a prosthesis.
“We were just happy she could walk,” said her mother, Magda Bueno. “Nobody thought it would be possible.”
White-Bueno thrived with the prosthesis and soon after was walking everywhere. Still not satisfied, she decided to enroll in a children’s cheerleading program in an effort to try new things.
“I just wanted to make new friends,” said White-Bueno. “I thought cheerleading would be a way for me to have an experience with other girls.”
For White-Bueno, learning how to cheer with a prosthesis was never a major difficulty. The hard part, she said, was mastering the different routines and the discipline required to be a cheerleader. Throughout her nine years in cheerleading, her peers have been nothing but supportive of her.
“That’s one of the nice things about living in a small town,” said her mother, Magda Bueno. “Everybody knows Brianna, they would never make a rude remark to her.”
White-Bueno says cheerleading appeals to her competitive nature and she especially savors the opportunity to perform in national tournaments with the rest of the Galaxy Squad, an independent youth club. She dislikes, however, when people dismiss cheerleading as “stupid” or “girly.”
“Cheerleading doesn’t get the respect it deserves,” she said. “We work twice as hard as people in other sports.”
White-Bueno says she puts around six hours a week into cheerleading practice, maybe a little more when a big competition is on the way. She is also a hip-hop dancer, plays first base for Hollister Heat Softball and is vice president of the student body at Marguerite Maze Middle School. Last Friday, she finished a campaign for student body president and is awaiting the results.
“I want to get involved with everything, especially my school,” she said. “I really love my school and I think it’s done a lot of good things for me, so I want to give back.”
This April, White-Bueno will be trying out for a position on the San Benito High School Freshman cheerleading squad. She’s a little nervous, but says she takes her sport very seriously and is excited about going to high school. While she hasn’t yet laid down any concrete plans for her future, she does have her sights set on one day attending Harvard. In the meantime, she remains dedicated to cheerleading. And while White-Bueno says she does not consider herself a role model, she hopes other disabled children can learn from her experiences.
“Kids with disabilities shouldn’t let other people throw them down,” she said. “They can go for whatever they believe in, whether it’s cheerleading or something else they really want to go for.”
Danielle Smith covers education for the Free Lance. Reach her at 637-5566, ext. 336 or [email protected]
