Personal Narrative: Clara In The Nutcracker

In October of my freshman year, my friend convinced me to join the wrestling team. I had no intention before lunch to join, but he argued relentlessly as to why I should. He told me to show up after school in the wrestling room to meet the coaches. I had no idea what to expect. I thought the exercises would’ve been relatively easy, considering I was in decent shape. That all changed after about 30 minutes. The intensity increased as practice went on and I quickly realized how weak I had been. For the first few months, I thought I was giving my best effort,

After each training our bodies felt numb, our muscles worked to the max, and our calluses on our hands from the uneven bars weren’t the prettiest sight for teenage girlsl. We would go into the physical therapy room of our facility and spend 30 minutes ice bathing our ankle, knees and joints before leaving each day. But,for the day but it was all worth it. Every sweat mark that dripped from my face, every tear, everything. Iit was all worth it. I lioved for this sport.!

He let out a powerful yell, one much similar to a war cry and began to lift the 500 pounds in front of him off the floor. Everyone on the lacrosse team was cheering him on as the barbell slowly moved up and reached its destination. I stood there in awe at this incredible feat of strength: at this moment that I knew that I too, wanted to be strong. Before I became serious about weightlifting, I would often settle for the minimum amount of success possible. I believed that this was enough to get by in life. Once I began weightlifting however, I saw almost no progress. After reevaluating what I had been doing, I realized I needed to take a different approach and take weightlifting more seriously. I decided to set smaller, more achievable goals

I've always been the odd man out on any sports team who looked forward to conditioning at the end of practice and would hold my plank an extra few seconds until I really felt the pain. I loved pushing myself beyond my expected limits and the satisfaction of leaving the gym knowing I gave my full effort. Although the thought of taking a weight lifting class was extremely intimidating, I acknowledged my deep love for training and bettering myself.

It was my final moments as a Chelsea High School cheerleader. My final banquet had quickly approached. It was then that I realized I was not ready for the season to be over. I stood in front of my friends, fellow cheerleaders, and their families as they watched and waited for me to recite my last words as the season came to an end. It took hours for me to write about what my teammates and my coaches meant to me. I did not want to sound too nostalgic since I’m not the emotional type, but I also did not want to come across as indifferent. It was a difficult task, but I knew I could accomplish it.

In life, we all have goals that we set for ourselves. We have to push ourselves to our limits and stride for greatness to achieve and accomplish these goals. This all started after I finished my freshman baseball season, I was instantly looking for a new way to improve my game and get ready for my sophomore season. So during the offseason I decided to start training at a local gym. Starting off with small, light dumbbells and not sure what I was really doing. I had felt uncomfortable and worried about what others had thought about me. It was like I was always under pressure. I was thinking about giving up and wanting to quit, but it's too easy just to give up. So I stuck with it and thought about the reasons I chose this. I chose this

As I entered my freshman year of year high school, I was very nervous, yet excited to begin deciding my path in life, such as where I wanted to go to college or what job I wanted when I was an adult. At this point, I had some staple skills established, but nothing like I currently have. The year that I decided to try out for the wrestling team, my older brother was a junior at the time and he influenced me to join and said that it was a really fun sport that would help me to grow both physically and mentally.While I hesitated at first, I eventually decided that I would give it a shot. That decision was one of the best decisions I have yet to made. The first practice came, and at the time, it was one of the most

At 10pm we sat silently in my mother’s car. I had just spent the entire day competing in a wrestling tournament, and not well I might add. I was frustrated, and ready to quit. My 8th grade wrestling season had been a disaster, and I decided I was done. But I had been wrestling for half of my life, for 7 years and my mother knew this was difficult for me. She looked at me and said, “Just give us one season of high school wrestling Justin. I have a feeling you will really like it if you just give it a chance.” I looked at her cautiously, “One season. Fine.” Ordinarily, participating in an extra season of wrestling wouldn’t sound serious, but I thought it was. Toward the end of middle school I weighed only 75 pounds; I was small for my age. In high school the lowest wrestling weight class is

I was dropped off at the school and I shook with excitement. “Good luck and do your best!” my mother shouted in her usual high and happy voice as she sped off in our small Honda. I walked into the school gym and

Originally premiering in December 1892, at the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg, Russia; The Nutcracker was once not the beloved production we know of today, but instead was immensely criticized. It wasn’t until 1954, when George Balanchine re-adapted the classic for the New York City Ballet, that it gained the momentum now received nationwide. Nevertheless, Denver’s adaptation of the story surely doesn’t disappoint, incorporating a cast expertly delivered by both professional dancers, as well as students from the Colorado Ballet Academy with timeless choreography by Martin Fredmann and Sandra Brown.

Using my old experience and old habits I had become just as good or even better than before. As I was on the freshman team for gymnastics, I had brushed off the rustiness from the break that I had taken. Even though the sport is as not tough and rough as club, I still felt the rush that I did before. As I take the skills and lessons that I learned from club gymnastics, I still work just as hard and have just as much fun. As freshman year continued, I started to remember the habits and the reasons why I loved this sport. With a different coach and new teammates, I still felt at home. Jumping back onto the equipment was like riding a bike, even though I was a little rusty at first, I will always remember what was taught to me. Throughout freshman year I have improved and grown potential that I hope to apply later in life and later in gymnastics. I push for new skills and moves every day, but most importantly the sport makes me feel

I felt as though my heart might fall and drop to the pit of my empty stomach. The only noise heard were the bricks of my pointes echoing off of the walls. Four lifeless bodies sat at the fore of me, all gazing emotionlessly at another dancer. Adrenaline was forcing its way through my veins,

After the barre warm up they do combinations in the center of the room, preparing them for the same or similar combinations that would soon show up in the choreography of the routine, “Snow.” Turns, little jumps, big jumps; all of which they do this very skillfully. Once done with that they get set up, and find their places to start running through and “cleaning up” the dance, as Miss Nina and Miss Karen say. Miss Nina who can barely be heard over the music can be heard saying, “Point your toes!!! Do not sickle your feet! Extend your knees! No cheating your turns!!!” Intricate combinations run throughout the whole 5 minute routine. It is now finally coming to an end. They pose, the music stops; they have survived through one of the hardest dances in the Nutcracker Twist, but it is only the first out of many run throughs of “Snow” on Saturday, November 14th, 2015. After the four hour practice, a mix of “Snow” and “Flowers,” Miss Nina can be heard saying, “Thank you for the nice work today! See you all in classes this week!!!”, as we curtsey and walked out of the studio. Everyone is itching to release their throbbing feet from their tight, sweaty, and painful pointe shoes as they curtsey to Miss Nina and Miss Karen as they walk out of the dance studio they are very relieved and excited that it is finally over, but they know it will come again next weekend, and the next, and the next, until the two performances on December 11, and 12,

I have talked before about coming from a simple life. That could be a slight understatement as I have never previously attended a ballet, and when the question, “Surely, you’ve all heard of Tchaikovsky, right?” was posed I struggled to recognize the name or any significance to my life. It was not until I heard the musical number of “Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy” that the gears of my mind finally associated it with memory. While the first few notes of the celesta filled the room with carefree delight, I was transported back to the cold, laminated floor of my farmhouse bedroom. Sitting on the gaily-colored rug in the middle of my six feet by seven feet small expanse of space, I remember holding my china ballerina/music box so gently. The object itself is about twenty inches tall. It is a beautiful ballerina in a lavender tutu with matching slippers and a delicate crown of flowers in her hair. The ballerina is perched upon a white cylinder, almost reminiscent of a cake topper, that is embellished with glitter and flowers and all of the pretty works. When the key is turned, the melody flows angelically through my small room, and I feel as if I am not longer present—instead, I am swept away to a wonderous, snowy world with enchanting dancers. My only connection to Tchaikovsky let alone The Nutcracker is a ballerina figurine that I left back home. I did not have a clue what to expect, but I could barely contain my excitement.

The most significant practice of the year approached us seniors. The staff put us into groups to keep all the seniors in order. We all were divided into sections and labeled after letters and numbers. Soon after, all the senior class entered the auditorium in an orderly fashion. The practice had us recall memories of our freshmen to senior years. I saw a video that showed pictures of my youth to a young adult. I begin to think of the past and how much fun I had growing up. I also thought about how I would never see some of my friends again. After some time, the staff wanted us to practice walking across the stage. I did not quite understand why we needed to do this; I figured they wanted us to see how fast our life would flash in front of our eyes. At last, practice was over and I was able to go pick up my cap and gown. During this time, I thought about the next day and how it would be the end of another chapter in my years.