Every kid has their own thing that they are good at and often times, what they love. You have the sports kids who start in Little League Baseball or the YMCA basketball, hockey, soccer leagues. Some get involved in a Pee Wee football league. Some quit to try another sport because they don't enjoy it or they aren't good at it. Some of those kids play in high school and if they are lucky, they get to play in college. But either way, they do it because they love it.
Like any kid, I tried all the sports my parents could sign me up for (basically soccer and softball). I had tried basketball but I was very small and was not at all coordinated. I stuck with YMCA soccer for years but realized that I was never good at it. I tried softball starting age six and finally stopped in 7th grade. I also realized that although it was fun, I could never hit the ball when the girls started to pitch using the wind-up method.
But I was still good at one thing: dance.
I had started dancing when I was five years old. My mom enrolled me in a tap class. For being so uncoordinated in basketball and soccer, I was actually pretty good on my feet. I had my first recital in May of that school year. I wore a red, sequin leotard with cuffed armbands and a sequin band with a feather in it. I felt like a princess. I had so much fun up on stage doing my dance routine. I was never shy when it came to a crowd. I continued to dance for seven more years after that.
After I quit dance in middle school, I was in the band playing the trumpet and I took piano lessons from a lady in my hometown. I also joined the choir in middle school. Singing in the choir led me to join the school theater production as well as the show choir. I got to sing and dance; two of my favorite things. I enjoyed it so much that when I got to high school, I continued playing the trumpet and acting and dancing on stage. I loved it. It was my passion.
As every high schooler knows, you got through at least one tough situation during your time there. Mine was a relationship that lasted almost two years. This relationship caused me to put a strain on my relationship with performing in front of others. I became self-conscience performing in front of other people; afraid of what people would think of me.
What if I screwed up? What if I missed a note and people would laugh?
I had to stop and think of the reason I decided to go down the path of Fine Arts and performing. Not because I wasn't good at sports and this was the next best thing, it's because I get an adrenaline rush when the stage lights in my face or when the music begins to play. I feel like I am on top of the world. To show others that God gave me a gift and that I am using his gift for good; to make others happy and to give myself joy.
My dream is to be a dancer up on stage one day.
I know that dream is pretty far out of reach but I still hope that maybe one day it will come true. I still try to perform even in college. I've been in choir since I started college and I am in an all-girls singing group where I still get to showcase my voice and love for music. Performing is a part of who I am and I don't know if I will ever be able to give that up. As long as I still have my voice and my dancing feet, I will keep doing what I love.
