When I was in fourth grade I spontaneously yet seriously wanted to be an Olympic gold medalist in ice skating. Then my cousin took me to the ice skating rink and I realized that I sucked. Of course that dream died as quickly as it began, so I'm glad I stuck with dance from that point forward. Sometimes I wonder what I would do with my life if I wasn’t a dancer, but I find this extremely hard to visualize considering dance has been a part of my life for almost the entirety of it.

At Slippery Rock University, I'm currently pursuing a BA in dance as well as a BS in math, specifically actuarial science. As an actuary, I will calculate risk for companies like insurance agencies or hospitals, for example. I chose math as my second major because I had some awesome math teachers in high school, and I discovered that I enjoyed math enough to want to pursue a career in it. I decided long ago that dance will always be a part of my life, and although my dream job is performing with a dance company or on Broadway, I'm aware that there isn't a lot of money or job security in it. I knew that I needed another more stable job to pay the bills, so I figured math would be the way to go.

Before I discovered actuarial science, I considered majoring in secondary education and being a teacher. I thought the perfect plan would be to teach during the day (I considered math or history) then teach dance at a studio in the evenings. In high school I assisted my dance teachers with the younger girls' classes, and I enjoyed sharing my love for dance with the next generation of dancers. As a career I would enjoy teaching at a studio or opening one of my own, but my first choice would be to perform.

Aside from dance and math, there's another career path that I still consider today. After taking a Critical Writing class at Slippery Rock University I remembered how much I loved to write, so in November when a friend of mine asked if I was interested in being a content creator for the Odyssey, I took the opportunity to let my voice be heard. I find writing similar to dance in terms of self-expression and conveying ideas. Being a double major doesn't give me a lot of free time because of all the studying and rehearsals I have, but if I did have the time I would pick up an English minor in a heartbeat because a goal of mine is to write and publish a book someday.

(Actually, there is one more career I always wanted. If anyone knows of a kingdom in need of a princess, please let me know.)