Those were her first words to me when I inquired if she would be interested in an interview. She wanted no part of a sob story. Her attitude about life is assertive and positive. She is, after all, a performer and her determination to play to the crowd is not a tactic to just gain attention. It is also a responsibility that she brought to her work as a professional cheerleader. It has been 6+ years since she last tumbled yet she is still faithful to her ethic of entertaining.

Jenn lives with her boyfriend in an apartment in southern California. They met when she was doing a True-Life episode for MTV, featuring young disabled men and women. The producers wanted video of her out on the town and she had gone to a club.

“Yeah. Um. They wanted to get me at like some sort of social situation, so I just wanted to go to this local dive bar that my friends went to, totally trashy, and they ended up not being able to film there, because I think sketchy things go on there - I don’t know, I’m not involved...But my personal trainer at the time, he was the lead singer of a band, and we’d been invited, we’d talked about hanging out for a couple of years, but we never did and ‘course he was like, “Oh, MTV’s gonna be there?” just like, “We’ll be there!”  And I was like, all right dude, whatever. And he brought this guy. And I told him, “Oh, your drummer’s kind of cute,” and I remember he asked me for my phone number, and we started talking on the phone and went out a few times and stuff.”

“I met him on Easter, so - but that changes every year. So, you know, I don’t know, we’re, well, I guess it’s sorta three years, doesn’t seem like three years though.”

Jenn has a beaming smile and dimples that would hold rainwater if she looked up. Her caramel colored hair complements the smoky hue of her skin and the green/gray slate of her eyes. All these earth tones give her an organic persona that is replicated in her care and ideas about recovery.

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