Personal Narrative: Nine Year Olds At Practice

“Hold one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight. C’mon girls you look like crap! There is no way you will win a trophy if you suck at dancing.” Comments like this lead to laps around the basketball courts with our arms in a high V. This is how the coaches would treat us nine year olds at practice. As a child I felt like it was me who was in the wrong. So I would go home and practice until my parents would have to tell me to go to bed. Years after, I ventured off to a local dance company. This was a big chance in dance styles, it took more strength and technique skills, but I still was determined to perfect it all. With my hard work paying off and showing that at the practices, the founder of the studio pulled me aside to a quaint room
near the entrance. It had, the typical ballet wallpaper that was a blush pink with little ballet slipper on the border. “I understand that you play a role in our upcoming performance. I have noticed you have been arriving to your class everyday and practicing full out. So I wanted to put you in two more performances of no charge.” Ms. Jeannie told me. This news made me proud of my hard work. This only meant I had to learn how to work even harder. My time to show off all of my dancing abilities were when I came to High School. The pressure was on when I tried out as a Freshmen. The routine we were given to perform was full of tricks and special moves that I wasn’t the best at. When it came down to tryout day, I made sure I was as confident as I could be. Once I made the team the coaches informed me that I got the best score of the team.
My senior year I was passed down the title of captain for all my hard work showing during the season. This is where I’ve learned my most valuable leadership skills.