There has never been a time in my life where I was not involved in dance. It is crazy to think that for the past 15 years of my life, Deenie’s Dance Workshop has been my second home. My mom decided to enroll me in dance because the owner used to teach classes at my pre-school. After just one time of watching me perform the Teddy Bear Song, my mom immediately put me in classes. Even at the end of my worst days, I know that the studio would always be there for me. I consider my story to be one for the underdogs. When I was younger, I was never the best dancer in class. All of my friends were taller, more flexible, and made me feel like I was playing a never-ending game of catch-up. The only thing I had over everyone else was my passion. Every single day, I would beg my mom to let me stay hours after my class was over and sit in the doorway of Studio A to watch the older girls dance. It is safe to say I had quite an obsession with growing up to one day become just like them. Patty even let me stretch with the senior jazz girls one time during class, and until that day, it became the best moment of my life. Sometimes I would watch them do their routines to the point where I memorized them, and after their class, I would make sure to give every one of the girls the biggest hug possible. When I was nine years old, my teacher gave me one of the most incredible opportunities possibly imaginable: a chance to perform with the Hearts and Flight class. She said that she wanted me to portray a little girl in heaven and that all the seniors would be my angels. To this day, that has been my favorite dance of all time. After all of those seniors left, I knew my time had finally come to step up and show them all what I could do. One promise that I have kept to myself was to make every one of them proud of me. They were all my idols, and there was no way I would be letting them down. Since then, there was never a class where I did not put in at least 110 percent. Each year, a few of those old seniors come back and watch our show, and it makes me the happiest person in the world to hear how proud they are of me. Leaving Deenie’s in the fall will be the hardest thing I have ever had to do, for it is like saying goodbye to my second family. I hope that the passion I have for dance will continue to spread throughout the younger generations of dancers and inspire those who also want to go after a professional career to pursue their dreams. There have been moments where people ask me what I would have done if I was not a dancer, but every time nothing comes to mind. For as long as I can remember, there has never been a time where I considered giving it up. I know being on stage is where I belong, making the audience feel something never felt before. Dance is my life, and I would never trade it or any of the experiences I have had with it for the world.

For my eighth grade farewell project, I conducted a large fundraiser to raise money for my city's local animal shelter. I partnered with Funds2Orgs, a fundraising organization that is based on giving money in exchange for collecting shoes. With this project, I was able to help two major causes. I collected shoes for over 4 months, with drop-off locations all over the city, and collected way more than anticipated. The shoes were collected from a Funds2Orgs representative and donated to people in need in third world countries. At the end of the Fundraiser, I had raised over fifteen hundred dollars.