If you were a competition dancer at some point in your life, it is likely that you lived to dance. I know, I did. Dance was not just an after school activity that you went to a couple times a week. The studio was your home. Your team was your family. Dance was your life. Each rehearsal was a time spent sweating and laughing with some people that know you better than you know yourself.

Dance for me was not only an outlet to exercise and spend time with family, but it was also a time I was able to express myself. I spent so much time stressed about school in high school, but to go to one of George’s contemporary classes always made everything better.

Improving to a great song at the end of a long day always brought me a feeling of content that has been unrivaled by anything else. The ability to express myself through movement is a feeling that cannot be accurately put into words.

While dancing is one of my passions, my experience of competition dance would not have been the same without my team. Royalenova is my team, my studio, my home and my family. I spent an inexplicable amount of time with my teammates and there are no words to adequately thank them for helping me, pushing me, putting up with me, laughing with me, loving me and making me into a better person. The relationships I formed on my team are unique and ones that I will treasure for life.

No matter how much time passes I know that I can always count on my team to be there for me if I need them. I can always count on my team to make me smile when I reminisce about the crazy times of competition from sun up till sundown. I am so grateful to my coach who taught me some of the most valuable lessons I have ever learned and for being one of the most patient and fun people I have had the pleasure of knowing.

I will never forget the delusional and productive 12-hour rehearsals before competition and although I wasn't always a fan of them in the moment, I will treasure that time spent together for the rest of my life.

I have learned so much through competitive dance that I know for a fact that I would not be the same person I am today if I had not been a dancer. Dancing affected my personality and the way I see situations. Dance gave me the confidence to be myself in a way that I would have never been able to learn had I not lived on stage.

I look back on my childhood and high school life and am thankful that I had something in my life that was so hard to say goodbye to. I never want to go back to high school, but to have the chance to re-live my high school competition life would be a gift. I guess Im writing this to explain how much competitive dancing in high school shaped me for the better, but more importantly to thank those that were a part of that journey.