Cheerleading helped Aria Welsh get through a tough time in her life, and now, the Fort Campbell High School senior looks to turn that around and help others.
Aria has been on the cheer squad for four years, earning the captain’s ‘C’.
“I started cheering when I had a really rough patch in my life, and I needed something to keep my mind busy,” she said. “I started cheering because I was a gymnast when I was little, and so that was the closest thing to do (at Fort Campbell). I just fell in love, and it became a big passion of mine.”
Not only is Aria a team captain, but she and a teammate also manage the school’s Instagram account. There, she can showcase her and her teammates’ skills and updates.
Aria also wrestled for two years at Fort Campbell before adding archery to her plate. She finished in 10th place at the Auburn Archery Tournament last month with a career-best score of 270.
Last year, she shot a 268 at the NASP State Tournament, finishing in the top 70% of shooters, and she has a career average of 259.
Regardless of the sport, Aria likes to be involved and be a good teammate.
“Just having a community of people to talk to that do the same things as you and have the same passions as you really helps you to be more positive,” she said.
And while her family has been stationed at Fort Campbell longer than some of her classmates, her familiarity with the transient nature of military life helps her appreciate the struggles other classmates can encounter.
“Knowing that everyone’s been traveling for a majority of their lives, or even if their parents joined late, and this is their new school, it’s been a good community because everybody understands the moving aspect,” she said. “It’s hard leaving your friends, and it just helps because everybody understands each other.”
Outside athletics, Aria is CPR-certified and works as a lifeguard at one of the aquatic facilities on post.
That interest in the health field will fuel her future as she will look to obtain her BSN in college and later work in the NICU or pediatric unit as a nurse. Last summer, she got an up-close look at the profession through the Aspiring Nurses Camp at Austin Peay State University – four days of hands-on learning. She plans to attend APSU after high school.
“I feel like nursing is something I’ve been called to do. A big passion of mine has always been to help others and to be in the medical field,” she said, adding that cheering for the Governors is also on the table.
Aria is the senior class secretary and a member of the student council and the National Honor Society. She’s also a member of a new club at Fort Campbell, ‘Kids Empowering Kids.’
“We work with special needs students and do activities with them.”
Aria has a 3.93 GPA and has earned KHSAA Academic All-State Honors, something she is expected to repeat this year.
As cheering winds down in the coming weeks, she will look to take her archery score even higher with the NASP State Tournament on deck.
