At four-years-old, I told my mom I was going to Julliard and I was going to work at McDonalds on the weekends because I loved chicken nuggets. Although I currently go to Michigan State and work at Bath & Body Works, there’s one thing that hasn’t changed: my love for dance.
At five I was doing cartwheels to Aaron Carter’s “I Want Candy,” at eight I was doing the Jungle Boogie all the way to National’s in Ohio, at twelve it was "Just A Dream" with Carrie Underwood, and when I graduated high school I balled my eyes out to "Sad" by Maroon 5 on stage with my duet partner watching from the curtains. I cried on stage that day because I thought it was the last time I would be on stage and be with the family I had come to love over the last fifteen years of my life.
I was wrong.
Upon my arrival at Michigan State University last fall, I searched for the opportunity to find my family all over again, as if it wasn’t stressed enough to me at AOP over summer how important it was to find my Spartan family. I had no idea where to even begin to look. What was I even looking for? Who was going to be my family? It’s not something I thought I should stress about, but I was. I was rooming with a girl I had known from high school and aside from the guys from the sixth floor, I only hung out with two girls I knew from my hometown (which you definitely shouldn’t do, make new friends!!) I thought the girls I practically lived with were going to be my family, but it didn’t see like that as I got to the end of the year. Once the summer rolled around, I went to the magical land of New York, only to return in the fall with no family at MSU once again.
I didn’t want to rush Greek life because I couldn’t find a sorority where I felt I belonged 100%. I wasn’t super interested in any sports, so that nixed intramural and club teams. Last year I was part of the MSU Dance Club, the oldest dance club on campus, so I decided that was my best option on looking for people that could be my “family.”
The problem with looking for the specific people is that the whole club is what I should have been looking at. After spending my Tuesday nights dancing, and whole weekends trapped inside of auditoriums these 90 (give or take a few) girls had become my sisters and the people I cared about most at MSU. I know that whether we are crammed in the dressing room or the exercise studio at IM West, I can always count on these girls. Now that my (birth) family is so far away, these girls hold an even more special place in my heart.
At AOP they do their best to make sure you know that you will have a family waiting for you here when you show up to campus. Whether they are the first people you run into, the people in your hall, your Greek family, or a club, remember that no matter how much searching you do, they’ll be the ones to find you.
