Everyone has their hobby from basketball to hockey, football to softball, the list continues. Everyone has different reasons why they love their hobby or why they joined it. Sometimes that hobby is something that they can't give up it becomes a part of them. For me, it's a little different. Dance literally changed my life from the very moment I stepped into my first dance class. I was that shy little kid who struggled with making friends and would rather read books than anything else. I was that kid who was scared of her own shadow and was scared to actually put herself out there. Dance changed my life.

My mom put me into a beginner level hip-hop class when I was 8 and I was not good at it. It makes me laugh sometimes when I think about my first dance class because I was not flexible, I had 0 to no rhythm and I was just an awkward kid to begin with. But looking back and thinking about the moment that class was over, I just remember the feeling I got from it and I instantly fell in love with dance. I just remember that feeling and it makes me glad that my mom put me into that class (Thanks Mom). I think about all my years of dance back at the two studio I danced at and all the styles I took from hip-hop to ballet, tap to contemporary, lyrical to jazz. I did everything under the sun at my studio because I wanted my repertoire to grow and grow. I can thank all of my dance teachers for giving me so much knowledge and love for all styles of dance.

I've been dancing for nine years now and it has made me into the person I am today. I used to be that quiet, awkward kid who would read 500 page books in a week to now the adult who is more outgoing and fun-loving. I've grown as a person and as a dancer and I wouldn't be who I am if it wasn't for dance. Continuing my dance education here in college has probably been the best decision I have made because I don't think I could have given it up. I've been given opportunities that I wouldn't have gotten if I wasn't in the dance program for example, going to college dance festivals, being able to dance in a show only few get to be apart of. The reason why I love dance so much is that it changed my life and turned me into a more outgoing, a more confident young lady. In the words of Martha Graham "Dance is the hidden language of the soul." Dance is my life and my soul and it changed my life forever.