Personal Narrative: My Only Dance Team

It was the end of 7th grade year, and by that time I knew I failed classes, it was going to be the exact thing as last year. Except, this year my mom did not allow me to go to summer school, she told me that if I wasn’t going to at least try to my fullest potential, she wasn’t either. Being that I failed a class without going to summer school, I was kicked out of the Academy and sent to my base school. I wasn’t sad because at that point I just did not care.

This weekend I, personally did not have much planned. The only activity I attended was a seven-hour dance tryout for the Foley Falconettes Dance Team. At the dance tryout, all the people were made to do learn a dance, jumps and leaps, the splits, and stretch plenty therefore people wouldn’t hurt themselves. I needed to attend this to figure out what team I will be attending this for the winter. After my seven-hour dance tryouts, my family held a campfire. I could sit under the stars and listen to the campfire crackle.

This weekend I will be at school trying out for next year’s Foley Falconette Dance Team. This consists of girls in grades seventh through twelfth,you do not have to have any experience of dance. It will last seven hours, it starts at nine in the morning and will end at four in the afternoon. We will work on a lot of dance moves, we will stretch, learn our tryout routine and work on our splits, kicks, turns, jumps and a lot more dance moves. Once we do all of the stretches and learn everything, we will move on to the actual tryout part. Our coach will put us into groups of three to five and we will perform everything that we learned that day. While our coach “grades” us on our moves and our flexibility that we have, our coach will tell us where she thinks we should be placed for next year’s team, the Varsity team, the Junior Varsity, or the C-Squad, Varsity is for the advanced dancers who can do anything without a problem, junior varsity is made up of dancers who have experience, but they are not at the varsity level yet, and the c-squad is for new dancers or for people who need help with their moves and everything else.

On the Saturday morning that the team was announced, I was wracked with fear. I was participating in a rehearsal for a dance competition with another team during the hours leading up to the time that the list was going to be posted. Trying to get through that rehearsal was nearly impossible as my attention was more focused on what color nail polish would best match my new Chiefettes shirt that I would be wearing to school on Monday. Once my mother and sister arrived to pick me up from the studio, I shook nervously in the back seat, sending messages to my other friends, waiting to find out the news. Both my mother and my sister remained silent, but I knew that they were praying just like I was that I would see my number on that list. As we

Who all can say that they have danced on national television at Walt Disney World? Well now, I can say that I did. I have been on many trips to Disney World but this one was by far the best because I got to be there with my dance team. In a small town like Saltillo it is very rare that any type of athletic team goes and wins state competitions or makes it all the way to a national level but we did. The Saltillo High School dance team of 2014 was the first team to ever go beyond a state competition and do anything on a national level. It was a huge honor for all of us to represent our school in the way we did. From arriving to Disney’s ESPN Resort, to getting ready then preforming was an overall great experience for all of us.

As i began the year unknowledgeable of the real world I met a guy who i began to date and for some reason my confidence began to go even lower, it took awhile for me to realize I was simply not expressing myself correctly which backfired on myself as a person I felt like an icky booger unhappy and not knowing how i can get better. Throughout the year i began to drift from so called friends who I thought i didn't care about but then realized I felt alone, I didn't realize a simple smile greeting not being there anymore would affect me so much. I began to question myself what I could do to feel better as a person and more like my old self when I didn't let the people get to me. It took me long to realize I was letting others opinions affect me and my feelings, I was letting society mold me into a mold I didn't fit into. Slowly but surely I began to motivate myself to start wearing what I truly wanted to wear, to be who I wanted to truly be and not care what others say

Our team sat in the hallway of our school, waiting for our name to be called to enter the gym. The pregame jitters were everywhere. Girls were bouncing up and down, fanning themselves and skittering around. I had a flood of emotions inside me. I was mostly excited but also quite nervous. What if my parents didn’t like the dance? What if my peers don’t like the dance? What if it looks bad? I couldn’t help but doubt the routine in a time of such nervousness. Our coach gave us each her routine good-luck shoulder shakes, and I knew the time had come. I heard the crowded gym fall quiet.

A setback I have recently faced was not making the varsity cheerleading team my senior year. I know it may not seem that big of a deal to some, but it was to me. I have been cheering since my 8th grade year, and to not make it my senior year was disappointing. When I realized I didn't make it, I felt many different emotions: confusion, denial, sadness, and anger. I stayed angry for a while, like my senior year was already starting off bad, and this was supposed to be my best year. An even though I knew I had other talents and could go on do so much more, it didn't feel right. I've gotten so accustom to going to practice and cheering at the games and seeing my close friends. It’s a different type of bond you have with other cheerleaders, especially

Starting high school was nerve-wracking for me just like everyone else. I had made the Varsity competition cheerleading team as the first Freshman to do so. I was also one of the first three Freshman to audition and make it into the Wind Ensemble, the top band. Being a Virtual Performing Arts School, where arts are weighed as college courses, it was very competitive to get in. I was surrounded by upperclassmen on both ends of the spectrum and was determined to prove myself.

“The challenge of leadership is to be strong, but not rude; be kind, but not weak; be bold, but not bully; be thoughtful, but not lazy; be humble, but not timid; be proud, not arrogant, have humor, but without folly.” Implementing leadership is not hard with a good leader, who conveys the qualities of mental strength, self-motivation, and confidence. As head cheerleader, I will be able to exhibit these qualities while implementing a structured leadership program with some of the three major factors in leading a successful team: communication, bonding, and organization.

I’m a ballet dancer at Williston School of Dance. it’s my biggest passion in life. However when I first started I hated it so much! I’ve always been a quitter, I’ve tried so many different hobbies and quit all of them : piano, violin, Archery, guitar, sewing, flute, jewelry making and knitting, as you can see from my list I was a huge quitter, as soon as something got hard I would give up.

"Everybody be warmed up and ready by 3:20!" My dance teacher yells to the Camden Hills Regional High School's, Strom Auditorium stage into the Black Box. I quickly slipped on my dance shorts from Pink, and a white Studio Red tank top, and then lastly my ballet slippers. I sat on the ground of the senior company dressing room, along side my friend Emily, as we started massaging our feet, getting the blood flowing to our muscles.

Stop drop and rumble! I remember the first time making the Atkinson county cheer team. At first I did not think by any chance i was going to make it.Going by that you should imply that when I saw my name on the paper ,stating who made it, i was so happy nothing could bring me down.I felt as if I just made a million dollars, that is exactly how happy I was.

When I was a toddler, I was extremely afraid of everyone especially those I didn’t know. I would grab my mom's leg and have a panic attack just because someone walked by me. My mom, quite concerned, asked a pediatrician what she should do. She recommended dance and over fifteen years later I’m still a dancer. Dance is greatest talent, but it doubles as a lifesaver. I was such a scared little kid, however I have forever been changed for the better.

It was my first year in the “big house” aka the high school. I was very nervous to start here with a new atmosphere. I was terrified of all the older students and the impenetrable classes plus the homework to add on top of that.