I'd go out on a limb to say that a lot (if not most) girls have taken a ballet class sometime in their life. In all of my years dancing, I heard countless times: "Oh, I used to dance when I was little." However, I'd also say many of these people did not continue to take dance as they got older, and that's fine. Ballet class may have just been your mom's way of getting you off of her hands for an hour or so, but for me ballet turned into much more.

Taking ballet classes changed my life.

I'll be the first to admit, right from the start I didn't love ballet. Actually, I kind of dreaded it. You had to wear tights. You had to be quiet. Classical music is boring. It was my least favorite class of the week. As I got older, somehow, I realized the immense impact that ballet class had on me, and I truly believe those hours (and hours, and hours) spent at the barre made me who I am today.

Discipline.

I think when anyone states the reason they liked... or hated... ballet is the discipline it requires in each and every class. Ballet taught me at a very early age to be disciplined, to stay in line, and to persevere. Ballet is not for the weak; you had to learn to be disciplined to make it through. It's hard. It's gonna hurt sometimes. Realizing that all of these things are "okay," that discipline is much more reliable than luck, talent, or God-given ability helped me know realize: If I wanted something, I was gonna work for it. Some things came easy, most didn't. You had to work harder for the things that didn't. I wasn't flexible. I had to stretch... a lot, and I did. This discipline, in turn, went hand-in-hand with my schoolwork. I knew that even though math was really hard for me, I'm just going to have to practice it more than anything else. I have ballet to thank for my drive, and for teaching me the importance of perseverance.

Keeping a brave face.

A word most use to describe watching a ballet? Effortless. The pros make everything look easy and beautiful. Yeah. If you have ever taken ballet, you may find this kind of hilarious because ballet requires 200% of your effort. While they may look beautiful, those ballerinas have endure years *upon years* of blood, sweat, and tears to look as graceful as they do on that stage. Ballet taught me to keep a brave face; I learned that nothing beautiful really comes "easy." Yeah, a lot of it comes down to talent you're born with... or maybe that you have good genes. However, if you only rely on talent, you will never improve. If you only rely on your outward beauty, your inner beauty may never shine through. Effort is everything... in every aspect of life, so keep a brave face, work hard, and cultivate your talents. Work hard, you'll look "effortless" too.

The little things matter.

If you've taken ballet, you know it's all in the details. The slightest bend in a knee can make for an unsuccessful pirouette. The tiny muscles are the ones you use the most at times. The little things matter, and they add up. Pay attention to details, and you'll realize they make up the bigger picture.

Honestly, if you don't like ballet... you're gonna have to endure anyway.

Like or hate ballet, you have to do it. I don't mean because your performance company required you to.... I mean you really will not survive in the "dance world" if you do not know ballet. It's the basics. It's the foundation. The answer to how to get better at every other style of dance? Ballet. If you didn't like ballet all too much at first (like me), too bad, it's pretty much the only way to guarantee you'll become a skilled, educated dancer. There's not really a "shortcut" or any "easy way out," and that's true of everything life. This really stuck with me, and even though I didn't love ballet, I had to have a "get over it, you have to do this to get better" attitude. Actually, I grew to really love ballet as I grew up... who would've thought? Life's about doing things we don't want to do sometimes... to land that internship, to get a great grade on that paper that's worth half your grade, or to finally feel fit and healthy. Ballet taught me that sometimes you have to convince yourself to do the things you don't want to to improve yourself.

I don't know if my mom ever imagined that putting me in ballet classes at age 2 would still have an impact on me at age 20, but I have ballet to thank for ingraining some of life's most important lessons in me, especially at the early age it did. I never would've thought that I would learn to love ballet, and I never would've thought it would really affect my life outside of dance. For making me the person I am today, I have ballet to thank.