Personal Narrative: Bleker

Those girls were a division higher than my team; so, as I watched their arms gracefully swing from side to side; their legs kicking into the air in a beautiful battement; and, the nearly flawless transitions, I wondered how much hard work and how many rehearsal hours they put in to achieve those movements with such ease. The spotlight highlighting their every move had me in awe. The song slowly started to fade out and the loud, obnoxious thumping in my chest resurfaced. With shaky legs and uneven breathing I hesitantly made my way onto the stage and got into position. Looking into the crowd, I could see hundreds of faces staring back at me; some familiar, some I had never seen in my life. This gave me a feeling of nostalgia taking me back to that first day of dance class when all eyes were on me. I could not hear anything around me except my heartbeat in my chest. I remembered how aesthetically pleasing the dancers prior presented themselves on stage and told myself to get it together. I had to give it my all and not let my team down, but most importantly I could not let myself down. I looked at my friend, who posed just to the left of me, for reassurance and she gave me such a genuine smile. I could see it in her eyes that she believed in me. I looked at my surrounding and thought “This is what I’ve been working towards. This is where I want to be.” All the negative thoughts that previously invaded my mind faded. My breathing began to even out as the lights dim signaling that the song would start any

Then we started to warm up because we had a judge's preview. So basically we just went into a classroom and performed our dance it was really scary at first, but then it got better because I knew they weren’t judging us that

Throughout the conversation, Susan did not inform me that the home was still in First Look and not open to investors at this time. Susan did not highlight any features of the home, nor did she talk about the neighborhood or the surrounding area. When asked, Susan paused to reference the property file and stated, "In looking at the pictures it appears that it needs interior paint, carpet, appliances, and a few windows, which the previous seller must have taken." She stated, "I don't know why they have to remove things from the homes." I asked, "Do you have offers?" She paused to check the property file and answered, "No offers." I asked, "Is the property behind the home farmland?" She paused to reference the property file and replied, "It appears

My Bubby, which is Yiddish for “grandma”, used to say that my family was like the United Nations. That’s because, while one half of my ancestors were Jews who immigrated to the U.S. from Russia, ending with my dad who was born in Brooklyn, New York, the other half, my mom’s side, came from Ecuador to the U.S. This is not to exclude my aunt Jade who moved from China and converted to Judaism. My mom also converted, and I was raised Jewish, going to temple for Hebrew school and when observing holidays, although I still got to experience the loud, exciting side of my Hispanic family.

As I looked around at my teammates, I wondered: What’s the big deal about poms anyways? Why should I waste my time doing things that are not important to my future? We soon arrived at the stadium, and we walked in. The door opened and everywhere my head turned, I saw costumes, girls running around trying to get ready, and teams stretching or practicing. It was intimidating at first,but as soon as we went into our practice room it felt like we were just in the gymnasium of Vernon Hills High School. “Vernon Hills, you’re on in 5”, we heard the director say. Tripping over each other, everyone ran towards the door. The hallway we walked through to get to the stage felt like it was a black cave, miles long. As we approached the end, the pressure was on. I, along with the other alternates on the team, walked on to stage and off to the side to watch. As the team walked onto the stage with their synchronized steps, hair buns perfectly aligned and centered, purple costumes glimmering under the spotlights, a sudden silence took over. It felt as if every single person in the stadium was holding their breathe. The music came on, and the familiar dance was exhibited. They looked stunning. It was then I realized that I would continue my dance career throughout high school.

‘’I was on my way to back to school night I was extremely nervous to meet my teacher and when I got there I heard Andrew then I turned around and…’’ One time when I was in second grade I was on my way to back to school night I went to meet my teacher her name was Ms. Pepler. She was nice at helping me put my stuff in my desk but I thought she would be meaner in the school year so when me and my mom got back in the car I said ‘’I think Ms. pepler is going to be mean this year.’’ My mom said ‘’ she seemed really nice at back to school night’’ then I said maybe you're right.’’ Now it is the first day of school and I was nervous because I thought I had a mean teacher and I didn't have any friends it was just me and my cousin. The first day of

“Oww,” I winced as my knee buckled for about the millionth time that day as I tried to practice my pirouettes for the dance audition starting in a couple of minutes. “Come on” I thought to myself wondering why my knee chose this exact time, this was important, I needed to nail this audition so that I could earn myself a spot in Company 2 this year. It was heart wrenching to think that I could be in Company 1 in 7th grade! “Get in order according to your number,” the dance teacher noted and I did as fast as I could,everyone knew that auditions were a non nonsense matter.Finally, the audition started, the Dance Instructor lead the stretching routine and then told us to go across the floor, he taught us what we needed to show and turned on the music. I thought to myself ,”run, run arms rounded in first when you run; a brush

Sophomore year, all of that changed. Madison and I decided it would be fun if we took dance class together and so we did. The time came around where we had to create an intro and outro to the dance swing and perform it. We tried to choreograph during class, but she always got distracted by other people and it didn’t bother me that much until it came down to the day before the performance and we still had nothing.

I’ve been dancing my entire life. I started by tap dancing when I was three years old, then later moved on to different styles of dance. However, the first day of my audition for an actual dance crew was kind of intense. I remember walking into a room full of talented dancers and completely doubting myself. It gave me a strange feeling in my stomach. I felt like throwing up, but I knew I had to suck it up and get through it. It made me nervous knowing that I was one of the last ones to audition. As soon as I got up on that stage, it was like all my fears suddenly switched off. I danced my heart out and gave it all I got. I got a call a few days later and they had told me that I made the crew. Since that day, I have never doubted myself in

The event of trying out involved a lot of people because so many people want to be on the national ranking dance team at my high school. But this decision did not just involve me it also involved my family for the reason that joining a team like this takes commitment from both the dancer but also the dancer’s parents. Before joining this team I danced at a studio and there were girls that I knew at the tryout which was nice to have a familiar face around when you are feeling so stressed out. The event of trying out lasted a week long where there were prep clinics to get you ready for the actual tryout throughout the week and then the actual tryout was on Thursday evening. Still to this day I can picture every moment of that night for the reason that I was so nervous and anxious and making this team is something I wanted so badly and was and is my passion. I also set the goal of being on this team when I was younger. The auditions took place in the high school volleyball gym which is a smaller sized gym and it was a really intimidating experience since there was a panel of judges of about seven or eight and they actually kind of sat

It is the late summer of 2016, a sunny, windy Sunday evening. Friends of ours, including family, eating together, along with each other, in circles of steel easy chairs in the back yard and sitting around tables. We share funny, amusing stories and jokes. We laugh uncontrollably to funny memories that we can barely breathe. When the wind goes down, we take some tables to the deck, with mouths ready to taste the delicious barbecue we prepared, ready to eat my mom's famous tres leches, and Mr. Sutton’s homemade vanilla ice cream. For some of us, the ice cream is more than enough for dessert.

I went to technique classes 4 times a week and put in extra hours on the weekend. Although, most girls had much more experience than me, I kept pushing on, no matter how many times I felt like quitting. The week of tryouts was filled with different emotions. I only had two days to learn a 2-minute dance that included moves and tricks I had never even heard have before. My body ached and tears poured from my eyes, but I still fought with everything I had in me. The day of auditions rolled around and I found out which 3 girls would be dancing with me to earn the title of being a Sapphire. Just my luck, I was put with 2 returning members and a girl, whom, had been dancing since she was 3. My hands were shaking as I put on the signature red lipstick and waited in line. I knew that my chances of becoming a part of the team were low and I should be prepared for the worst possible outcome. When my name was

In 2013, my dance team was invited to a national competition in New York City. Everyday I attended workshops surrounded by talent of all ages. I invested my sweat and tears at studios my idols rehearsed at. Coming back from a major injury, I knew I had to work harder than everyone else and persevere. Pain was not going to stop me. Obstacles were not a big deal. However, the day of the competition arrived and we were short of first place by less than half a point.

The next day we showed up early to relearn our dances, and that night we remembered every single move and position we had to be in. It was a huge relief for us to be able to perform the dances without a doubt in our minds that we were doing it

The many hours bled into months as we polished our dance. Finally competition came and we were excited to compete at the advanced level. However, the week of the competition we were surprised to see we were registered to