American Sweetheart

<p>In 1999 Chiufang Hwang tried out for the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders on a whim and the experience was an epiphany. “That day in Texas Stadium I finally understood what I had missed out on in high school and college growing up as the eldest daughter of Taiwanese immigrants. I felt so special. I felt included. I felt more like a teenage girl than when I actually was one. But mostly I felt so American.”</p><p>Since then Hwang has participated in more than ten Cowboys Cheerleader tryouts becoming a fixture at the annual auditions. Besides loving competition pushing her limits and reveling in the camaraderie of those pursuing sideline glory Hwang hopes to inspire others.</p><p>“I want to empower women of all ages to pursue their own impossible dream. Maybe the novelty of a fifty-year-old Chinese-American psychiatrist—who has still never even seen a football game—trying out to be an NFL cheerleader will spark them to think: Why not?”</p><p><em>American Sweetheart: </em>Still<em> Not Making the Team</em> recounts Hwang’s unique perspective of American pop culture and her place in it with humor poignant insight and unexpected candor.</p>