STATE COLLEGE — The new year will begin a new life for Emily Huber.

One that won't involve cheerleading.

A 2015 Butler graduate, Huber is a senior cheerleader at Penn State University. She has been involved in the sport since second grade, when she cheered for the Center Township Rams of the Butler Area Midget Football League.

Huber will be on the sidelines Jan. 1 in Orlando, Fla., when the Nittany Lions take on Kentucky in the Citrus Bowl.

“I'll still do some basketball and hockey games, but that will be the last really big game I'll be a part of,” Huber said.

And she'll miss it.

“I can't begin to tell you what cheerleading's done for me,” Huber said.

She is carrying a 3.1 grade point average as a health policy administration major at Penn State. She received the Allen W. Scholl Scholarship this year, which is awarded to academically talented Penn State cheerleaders.

Huber is also a committee member for the THON, a dance marathon run by a large student organization that raises money for families affected by pediatric cancer.

“It's a 46-hour marathon with 100 percent of the money going to the cause,” Huber said. “We work in shifts, making sure the participants are following the rules and are physically OK. It takes place in February.”

While at Butler, Huber was on Golden Tornado competitive cheering squads that took first place in the first-ever PIAA Championships in 2013. She was on second-place PIAA teams in 2014 and 2015 and was a varsity captain her senior year.

Those Butler teams also competed at Universal Cheerleading Association Nationals in Orlando every year.

“I had a strong relationship with my coaches in high school,” Huber said. “My years there built my foundation. There was never any doubt I wanted to do this in college.”

Huber first attended Penn State-Altoona and cheered there for two years. The PSU-Altoona competitive squad went to NCA Nationals.

Once she went to main campus, Huber had to take part in three-day tryouts with 200 girls vying for 50 spots on the Nittany Lion cheerleading roster. She had to try out both years she was there and made the all-female squad both times.

“I always stayed in shape and that helped me,” Huber said. “You use every muscle in your body, with stunting and lifting people.

“My favorite thing about working games is the energy factor. You feel like you have a hand in creating energy in the crowd at times.”

Huber compared cheerleading in front of 100,000 people at Beaver Stadium to “being in the middle of a huge rock concert.

“You can feel the energy in that stadium, it's as if it's ricocheting right off you. White Out Night there ... I can't explain what that's like when you're at field level, looking up at everybody.”

Penn State's cheerleaders work men's and women's basketball, volleyball and hockey games, along with football. The cheerleaders practice 10 hours a week, do events on weekends, work alumni events, etc.

“It keeps you busy,” Huber said.

Former Butler teammate Kaylee Winters went on to cheer at Robert Morris and former Tornado cheerleader Jordan Mazzanti preceded Huber at Penn State.

“Jordan was a big help to me when I was trying to make the squad. She helped prepare me for it,” Huber said.

Her cheerleading career is winding down.

The affects of it will never end.

“The bonds we have — because we're together so often, we've become very close friends,” Huber said of her fellow cheerleaders.

“No matter what kind of day I'm having, how hectic school might get ... It's just nice going (to cheerleading practice or athletic events). It's a nice break from everything.

“It's been a lot of work, but it's been so, so worth it,” she added.