I considered myself to be a good dancer. I skipped level one tap, moving straight to level two. The teacher loved the way I danced; I put all my heart in it and it showed. I tried hard and worked harder. And I loved every minute of it.

My class was preparing for the annual end-of-year recital, held after the school year ended in June. This year, we were performing The Little Mermaid, followed by a collection of dances inspired by air, earth, water, and fire. I was dancing ballet as a sailor in The Little Mermaid, and tapping as fire in the aftershow. I loved the songs I had because I could be myself when I danced.

We had prepared for months, dancing our way through injuries and other roadblocks such as sickness and holidays. But we kept on it. In tap class, the teacher confronted three girls, one of them being me. She wanted us to have a special part in out fire dance! We would to complicated moves that the other girls couldn’t do. It took a little more practice and hard work, but by recital time we were ready. And I was the star.

On recital day, everyone was nervous, mainly because of the huge crowd sitting just outside the curtain. I was just getting into my sailor costume when the studio’s owner told me to hurry up. I was confused because my dance wasn’t for a while, and they hadn’t even started the show. I was sent onstage along with a few other girls I didn’t know. When a voiced started saying, “ Here are 2007’s winners!” I knew what was happening. It took all my self- control to not jump up and down. I had won a tap award. Not many people won an award from the huge studio, and it was an amazing achievement.

I haven’t attended a dance class since I realized I could never become a professional dancer due to lack of support in my left foot. I still perform at talent shows, and my mom often catches me dancing in the kitchen. Dance will always be a part of me, and I have the trophy to prove it.