SOCIAL CIRCLE, Ga. — When Lexie Starnes inked her national letter of intent to cheer at Emmanuel College, she did more than sign a piece of paper. Her signing made her the first ever Social Circle cheerleader to sign and continue her career past high school.
Knowing that brought about a special feeling for Starnes.
“It feels like an absolute honor,” Starnes said. “I want other girls to know that they can do this, too. Cheer doesn’t have to end when you graduate [high school].”
Starnes signed the scholarship inside Social Circle’s media center on Feb. 23 surrounded by people close to her.
She recognized what people being there meant to her.
“The best part of the ceremony was all the sweet things that family and friends had to say about me,” Starnes said.
Starnes has cheered for the past five years with the football spirit squad as well as two years also doing competitive cheer.
Throughout her career, there have been some top moments Starnes has experienced. But there have been some things Starnes has taken away from her time at Social Circle.
“SCHS has prepared me for college in numerous ways,” Starnes said. “They have given me a personalized education that you cannot get anywhere else and have really taught me what a school should be like.”
Starnes plans to major in early childhood education when she arrives on campus in Franklin Spring with aspirations to become a child life specialist.
There were many factors into Starnes’ decision to go to Emmanuel College.
“The family atmosphere that you get while being there was definitely my deciding factor,” Starnes said. “Everyone makes you feel welcome. It’s also a christian college and Jesus is a huge part of my life.”
And, though there are a plethora of things Starnes is going to miss about her cheer days as a Redskin, she is eager to see what the next chapter holds.
“I am most looking forward to the new experience it will bring me,” Starnes said. “It will be such a different world than high school cheer so I am incredibly excited to take on that new adventure.”
