Jan. 16, 2017
By Jeff Shearer
AuburnTigers.com
Danyelle Hillman had cheered before, in middle school, high school and community college. But nothing prepared her for Auburn's season opener in 1995.
"The first game we played Ole Miss and the announcer said, 'Welcome to Jordan-Hare Stadium. We have over 83,000 fans in attendance today,' and my mind was just blown," Hillman recalls. "I was thinking, 'I'm supposed to go out in front of 83,000 people? Oh my goodness.'
"I was a little nervous going out there for the first time. When they introduce you and you do that first cheer, Two Bits, on the field, it was just amazing."
Hillman tried out after a visitor at choir practice told students the cheerleading squad was seeking to become more diverse to more accurately reflect the makeup of Auburn's student body.
"I never thought of it as, 'Hey, I'm making history,' she says. "It was more of, 'Hey, I'm getting to do something I want to do again. I'm already not a cheerleader. So if I don't make it, life will not change. If I make it, that would be great.'
"I didn't know at the time how many eyes were actually on me until a couple weeks later, one of my classmates came up to me and said, 'You don't realize how much everybody's watching you, and making sure that you don't fall.' That was an eye-opener right there because I didn't realize that there were so many people who were watching me at the time."
Hillman says the biggest issue she faced had nothing to do with being a pioneer.
"I had never stunted before in coed stunting," she says. "But I was able to practice with the guys and get familiar and learn the different techniques that were involved with that. It was a great experience."
The confidence and poise Hillman gained while cheering for Auburn has served her well in the ensuing two decades.
"You learn how to be supportive of people, and you learn how to encourage people," she says. "All of the jobs I've had since being a cheerleader at Auburn have been about helping lift people up."
Cheerleading continues to play an important role in Danyelle's life. Since 2008, in addition to teaching business education, she has served as the head cheer coach at Muscle Shoals High School in northwest Alabama, twice earning teacher of the year honors.
"I try to prepare my cheerleaders for the real world to let them know that, 'I am behind you 100 percent. I'm pushing you. I know you can do it, because I've done it,'" she says. "It was an awesome experience. It taught me a whole lot about how to team build, how to work with people, how to work around different obstacles that you may face. And it's just been great."
Danyelle shares her story to inspire her students.
"To me, the biggest thing is, it's not about where you come from. Or it's not about what your friends are doing. It's more about what you want to do," she says.
"If that's your dream, and that's your goal in life, then no matter what anybody else says, and what kind of negativity you hear coming into your ear, the important thing is that you go out and you do what you want to do. It's your life in the end. And you're the one who has to live that life. If you want to go out and be in the Olympics, then hey, go for it. Nobody's stopping you but yourself."
Jeff Shearer is a Senior Writer at AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on Twitter: Follow @jeff_shearer