A Life Changing Moment

When I was little I was faced with biggest decision of my life. I was 4 years old with such a big decision for such a little person, not even knowing what either was. That big decision was to play soft ball or to do dance. Since my brother played baseball I always liked to play whiffle ball with him when I had free time. But, I also liked to dance around like I was a princess in a castle, just like any other little 4 year old girl would.


I chose both, but my dad said that I could only do one or the other. When my mom found out that my father had given me the choice of softball she immediately threw that out of one of my options because that was my brother’s sport and I had to choose something else. She put gymnastics in with dance as the other choice. My dad wasn’t too happy with my mother, so he took me to one of the softball practices in town. As soon as I got in the car I said “NO, NO, NO, NO, NO, NO, NO. I am not playing softball”. The girls that were already on the “team” were the rudest girls that I had ever met. They were not the girls that my father wanted me to hang out with anyway, so that option was immediately kicked out of the options. My mother was happy that I didn’t want to play softball anyway.


The next day my mother found a place called the “Academy of Fine Arts”, a daycare and a dance studio downstairs; I could go upstairs to the daycare and then when dance started they could just bring me downstairs when it was time. My mother took me that next day to check it out, and all I could think about was if the girls were going to be as mean and rude as the softball girls were to me. We arrive and they immediately welcome me with lots of care and joy, acting if I was already a part of their family. That night I could not stop talking about how much I had LOVED the dance studio. My mother quickly chose for me that I was going to take dance. For one thing she didn’t have to worry about if I was going to be treated with care and kindness, and second she never had to worry if she could get off work to take me to dance because she could not take me to daycare in the morning and then pick me up after she got off work.


I have now been dancing for the past twelve years and absolutely love it there. They are like my second family, I can come to them if I ever need anything and they are always there for me no matter what it is. I am there almost everyday form 4p.m. to 9p.m., and am in the highest level which is called advanced. The teachers there are so loving and fun to be around, and the girls there are like sisters to me.


I plan to finish my high school years there, and then become a fulltime teacher there. Right now I am a full time student and a part time teacher there. I am also currently the oldest dance there and love how the girls look up to me as a role model. I wouldn’t change a thing about my choice, because it’s made me the person that I am today.