I have danced my entire life. I cannot remember a time when I wasn't in the studio, practicing my dances at my desk in school, or rearranging my schedule around class times...except for the past two years.

I haven't danced regularly since my senior year and I miss it terribly.

Dance was my escape, a paradise, where my thoughts somehow organized themselves even though my mind was consumed by the music. Dance was where everything made sense, where I felt like I made sense. Leaps felt like flying, turns whipped the negativity out of me, knee drops kept me grounded.

Dance is the closest thing there is to magic.

I am who I am today because I danced, and because my dance instructors gave me the opportunity to be 100 percent completely free and myself.

Thank you, for pushing my shoulders down at the barre to remind me to relax.

Thank you, for yelling at me to breathe during practice, so that I remembered to always take a breath before jumping into anything else.

Thank you, for pushing my leg up higher than was comfortable, to show me that there's always room to push a little further on if you try.

Thank you, for the insane turn combinations to show me that no matter how dizzying life is it will always come back into focus.

Thank you, for the lifts that forced me to trust and rely on other people.

Thank you, for trusting me to do the lifting, and allowing me to develop confidence in my strength and my skills.

Thank you, for the stretches that hurt my body during class but felt good afterwards, which showed me that life can be painful but that good things can come out of that pain.

Thank you, for putting me in leadership positions, to develop my love and passion for teaching and helping others.

Thank you, for believing in me when I didn't believe in myself.