I’ve been a dancer for almost 9 years now and I do all sorts of styles. From ballet to tap to even hip hop. I’ve been dancing since I was in the fourth grade. I never did any sports as a kid. When my little sister was 3 years old, she started dancing. I went to her dance shows all of the time. It looked fun, it was something I was interested in trying. I’m used to my sister always copying me, but it was the opposite this time. I wanted to copy her. That’s when I was introduced into the world of dance. When I started at my dance school in 2008, I felt like I stood out because everyone there had been dancing since they were like three years old. Everyone in my classes were more experienced than me and that made me feel pretty intimidated and insecure. As the years passed, I continued to improve and move forward.  My technique progressed and my style was at an all time high. I finally felt like I fit in with everyone else even though I had only been there for about 5 years. I felt like I had my own dance family. Dance school was like my home away from home.

When I started high school in 2013 it was kind of hard to balance all of my dance activities. I had dance four times a week along with all of my schoolwork. It was getting hard to keep up with. Then one day on my way to gym class, I saw a flyer, it said, “Calling All Dancers, Orchesis Auditions September 6th and 7th at 4pm in the Dance Room.”  I had heard of Orchesis when I was in middle school, and I had been to their shows. I wanted to try out but I was scared because I didn’t think I would be good enough to make it. I decided to go to tryouts which were brutal. They taught us two dances, one jazz piece and one contemporary piece. There wasn’t much time for us to memorized the dances and then audition them for the coaches. Just after we finished learning the second dance, we were told that they would start calling audition numbers in 15 minutes. We only had 15 minutes to get ourselves together. I thought that was insane. I was so flustered when they called my audition number to go in the room next. I walked in with a few other girls who seemed way more confident than me. I stood in front of the coaches, trembling. I could actually feel myself shaking.  They made us do some technique across the floor. We did kicks, leaps and turns. I felt great about my technique, it wasn’t the best, but it was good. Then it was time to show off the pieces we had just learned. As soon as the music started, I completely blanked, so I just followed the girl standing next to me until I knew what I was doing again. When the music stopped and the dance was over, the coaches asked us to go back into the hallway. About a half hour later the two coaches came out and started to say the numbers that would make it to the second day of auditions. My number was the second to last number called. I was so relieved. They dismissed the girls who had not made it to the second day. The rest of us sat there and waited for more instruction. We were then told to go home and practice the dances some more and to be back the next day prepared to dance again. I went home and practiced all night. At school the next day I was so nervous. I remember feeling nauseous all day. We had to be in the dance room at 4 o’clock. When I got there a group of girls were going over the dance. I joined and when the coaches got there, I finally felt comfortable with both dances. They started calling numbers to audition again. We went through the same routine as the day prior. We did technique and performed both pieces yet again. This time I knew that I had done well. After everyone had been in the audition room, they started callbacks. I was had to get called back two times. I just started to assume that I wasn’t going to make it. When they were done with callbacks, all of the girls just sat together in the hallway and mumbles about how scared they were to not make it. They started calling the numbers of the girl who had made the final cut and were to be members of the 2013-2014 Orchesis Dance Company. My number was called in the middle. I was so ecstatic, I called my mom and I cried because I was so happy. That’s when I was faced with the big decision. I had to choose whether I wanted to do Orchesis or if I wanted to continue taking all my classes at my studio. I couldn’t decide because, it was like my second family. But doing orchesis would be something new, a challenge and I really did want to take on that challenge. I didn’t have much time to make my decision because the meeting for all of the Orchesis members was going to be the following week. It took a lot of thinking. I had to talk to my parents and even my teachers from my studio to get their opinions on it. Finally after a few days of sitting on the idea. I decided that I would compromise. I decided that I would do Orchesis and I would continue to take one class at my studio. Today, I am so glad that I made that decision. I’m not sure what I would do without Orchesis. The team has shaped me into the person that I am today. Both my studio and Orchesis have brought amazing outcomes. I got into the highest level class at my studio and I am now a captain for orchesis. I’m so proud and I’ve come so far. It was honestly one of the best decisions that I’ve ever made. Both Orchesis and school have shaped my character and if I could ever go back to freshman year and had the option to make that decision again, I would not  change one thing about it.