I was only two years old when I began dancing at a local dance studio, Gotta Dance. From the minute I started, I instantly fell in love. Every summer, I looked forward to going back to dance, learning new routines, and getting a new costume for the annual recital.

From the beginning, I fell in love with performing in front of an audience and performing my dances. I still remember my first dance recital--which was Cartoon Network-themed and my dance was Piglet--and I was one of the few girls who was actually doing the dance and had the biggest smile on her face. From that moment on, I knew I wanted to keep dancing. My favorite part about going to Gotta Dance was the recitals. Every year, the recital had a different theme and each class was assigned a dance revolving around that theme. In the 15 recitals I performed in, my top 3 favorites were Aladdin (2012), Alice in Wonderland (2013), and City Lights (2015).

Gotta Dance performed "Aladdin" in 2012 when I was a freshman in high school. This dance was one of my all time favorites for many reasons. My dance was called "Who Disturbed My Slumber?" and was the part of the movie where Aladdin gets swallowed by the Sand Lion and is the scene right before he meets Genie. The music was creepy and the dance moves were sharp and isolated. The dance was perfect and everyone in the audience loved it.

Alice in Wonderland was another favorite of mine and was performed my sophomore year. "Alice in Wonderland" is one of my favorite movies and I tend to go to Wonderland when I zone out. My dance was the Red Queen's cards and the song was Lady Gaga's "Poker Face." The costume was really cool and it had a slight feeling of evilness mixed with sassiness.

My all-time favorite recital was City Lights because it was my final recital. City Lights was complied of different dances from around the world and I was in Morocco. This dance pushed my limits as a dancer because we learned Moroccan dance moves that aren't easy. It was challenging but in the end it was all worth it. On my recital day, I was honored with my 15-year plaque (and was the only dancer at my recital receive this award) and was honored as a graduating senior and that still means so much to me.

In the 15 years I danced at Gotta Dance, I grew so much as a person and a dancer. I was pushed to my limits by my amazing teachers to become a better dancer. I laughed and cried, smiled and frowned, jumped up and down, and just about everything in between, but I will never forget the memories I made and the lessons I learned at Gotta Dance. I learned that you have to push yourself to become better. I learned that pain is temporary but happiness lasts forever. I learned that teamwork is important and nobody else is better than anybody. The most important things I learned is confidence, dedication, and practice. I learned that confidence will take you a long way on and off the stage. Dedicating time and practicing something that makes you happy will make you a better dancer.

Thank you Gotta Dance for inspiring the little girl who fell in love with dance 16 years ago. To all my teachers over the years, thank you for all your patience and dedication because I know that I wasn't the easiest dance student to teach (from getting distracted in my own world or asking you to show me the same step over and over again). If I could go back to those 15 years I spent at Gotta Dance, I wouldn't change a thing.