“My favorite memory is my very first dance competition. I’ve always loved to dance, but I started late compared to most people my age. When I was 13, I enrolled into my first class to be on a competition team and immediately began training for February. Months passed by and my nerves were all over the place. When February came, I stepped my foot through the auditorium, my heart dropped. Seeing so many dancers warming up, making last minute makeup touch-ups and costume adjustments, I felt so overwhelmed but in a good way. I was excited and ready to start. Warming up was calming my nerves until my group got called to be in the wings, meaning that we are up next. When the music played and my foot stepped onto the stage for the first time, my head cleared and a weight was lifted off of my shoulders. I felt so free, so right to be dancing for an audience and I never wanted that moment to end. Ever since, I’ve done competitions and traveled for intensives and nationals. There is nothing I love more than dancing for people and making them feel something.”