I've been dancing since I was two, but anyone can say that.

Being an army brat, I was lucky enough to learn at a young age that very few things in life stick with and support you from place to place unless you prioritize them; for me, this priority was always my family, but because of them, it also got to be dance.

Dance has provided me with opportunities I could've never dreamt of. I've been lucky enough to compete on national stages and win titles, dance with some of the most renowned dancers in the world, and learn from the best of the best. I've been classically trained in ballet, jazz, contemporary, hip-hop, musical theater, tap, and game day, and have received instruction from every space imaginable including studios, masterclasses, summer intensives, and competitive school dance teams. I've been injured because of this passion and have been given the chance to fall back in love with it, learning that the true meaning of resilience is forgiving that thing you love for the hurt it caused you without being afraid to love it again. I've been around the world and back on a rhythmic airway that's exposed me to the best people, experiences, and memories in my life along the way.

Today, however, as I rest in my old age (freshly 20), I value dance as the art form that allows me to see pictures when I listen to songs and think about music as a mathematical concept, floating cyclically in time from 1 to 8. I always loved formations because listening to music shows me what sorts of images one can create from a gathering of bodies moving in perfect chaos. I'm evolving as a dancer with every step I take; these days, I can be found choreographing for and dancing with my amazing team on campus, DV8, which prides itself on being a guaranteed showstopper every time we hit the floor.

I was never much of a choreographer— I loved being told what to do and when because having a baseline gave me the chance to exceed expectations; how could I do this when my expectations are the ones I'm trying to exceed? Nonetheless, DV8's self-run, democratic style of selecting quarterly pieces gave me the opportunity to step up in this area. Having been on this team since my freshman fall quarter, I've seen how growth can look in a space that's so unapologetically empowering, supportive, and deliciously fierce. These traits have been the guiding principles for my choreography ventures ever since, and I love being able to embrace the sensuality of hip-hop and jazz funk through meticulous, thoughtful, provocative pieces.

One of the hardest things to accept is the knowledge that we will always be a drop of water floating in the sea of ambiguity, but while I won't always know what the future holds for me, I can always be certain that I'll be dancing;

that's more than enough for me :)