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Allison Eichelberger
Professor Rebecca Agosta
UWRT 1101
10 February 2015

My Exploration of Dance
Somewhere behind the athlete youve become and the hours of practice and the coaches
who have pushed you is a little girl who fell in love and never looked back play for her.
Mia Hamm.
I was a little girl with big dreams. When I was a child I always wanted to be in the
spotlight and was always dancing around the house or in the car when music was playing. Since I
wasnt any good at singing or telling jokes I thought I would try a dance class. I had nothing to
lose, so I just gave it a shot. My parents did not have to think twice about it, and got me into the
first dance class they could find. Lets take a walk down memory lane and recap my first dance
class. Walking into to class with my pink tights, pink leotard, hair in ballerina bun, I was ready to
dance. I did not know what I was about to get myself into. I stood in the very first row thinking I
had a clue what I was doing I had absolutely no idea. Every other girl had all the combinations
down pat, knew what all the terminology meant, and danced with such grace. Then there was me,
that awkward goofy girl trying to follow the older girls. I felt so out of place. In my head I was
thinking I never wanted to go back to this class and I wanted to give up. On the car ride home I
was talking to my mom and told her I wasnt going back ever again and she insisted I give it
another shot. I cried and cried begging not to go back, but my mom promised it would be better
this time. Mom is always right. Right? Well, in fact she was right. If I never went back to the

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second class, I would not be who I am today. Dance is a huge part of who I am and has had a
huge positive impact on my life.
Months went by and I started improving in my dance technique and did not look like the
new lost girl in class anymore. Instead of giving up, I looked up to the older girls in class and
aspired to be as good as them one day. I started to give myself short term goals, such as each
class I would pick up one more move than the class before, or learn a new term. Those short term
goals added up fast. Before I knew it I was moving up in levels of all dance and starting to
broaden my styles. I became unstoppable. I wanted to try every class they had to offer at my
dance studio and I would consistently practice in my room at home. I never wanted anything so
badly than to make the competition team, which was a group of dancers who travel around the
country and compete against other studios. That was my next goal and I would not give up until I
reached it.
At the end of each summer, we received a letter that says what levels we would be in for
the upcoming season. My whole body was shaking with nerves as I was peeling open the
envelope, I could not open it any faster. I ripped the paper out, unfolded it, and read it. It was a
day I will never forget I had made the competition team. Every second of sweat, tears, and
hard work all paid off. Although I was excited, I was not prepared for what I was about to get
myself into. We practiced six days a week for four to six hours a day. But I have never put my
heart and soul into something so much. This experience led to many more opportunities that
offered me to grow even more as a dancer, such as going to nationals in New York City and
dancing with multiple dancers from So You Think You Can Dance. How many people get to
say that? Also, traveling almost every other weekend has taught me to stay on top of my school
work, prioritize what is most important and realize hard work pays off. Another thing traveling

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for competition has done for me is to give me the opportunity to build unbreakable bonds with
friends who I would not be where I am without. They gave me unconditional love and support
whenever I needed it. Later, that season I was honored to get my first solo and that was a pretty
great accomplishment. I had nightmares about performing my solo for the first time. My parents
and friends gave me pep talks and told me I need to be more confident in myself. Once again,
they were right. I went out on that stage with full confidence and killed my solo. My parents
smile went from cheek to cheek as they watched me perform. I was happy that not only where
they proud of me, I was always proud of myself.
The middle school days were over, and now it was time for high school. The next goal I
gave myself was to make my high school dance team, the Golden Girls. I walked into tryouts
with some doubt about making it, but I had to remember that confidence is key. I knew after
years of training I was prepared for the audition, but when I walked into the room it reminded of
the first dance class. I felt out of place with all these amazing dancers surrounding me. On the
last day of auditions, I was anxiously waiting to hear my number be called. Then there it was
number 22 was called. I felt so blessed to have made the team, which I was on the team for all
four years of high school. I learned so much about myself by being on the team. My coach was
my biggest support and taught me to believe in myself and inspired me to be a leader. I then
became the captain of the team my junior year. I learned how to run practices, teach
choreography, and become a leader. While being on the dance team, I was still participating in
the competition group at my dance studio. I though just dancing at my studio was hard enough.
Doing both took up most of my time, but it was worth every second because I was doing what I
loved and could not ask for anything more. Dance was very important to me, but so was my
academics. I always found time to get my homework and studying done, and as a result of

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managing my time I was rewarded with the athletic GPA award at our banquets, which was the
first step getting into good universities.
During my senior year of high school, I knew I wanted to dance in college. So balancing
school work and my dance training was very important in order to be accepted. I had always
struggled with reading and writing throughout school, and I went to all different kinds of tutoring
to get the help I needed to be successful. Some people did not believe in me and did not think I
would get accepted to any universities. It really hurt me and made me feel like I should just give
up, but my moms voice kept playing in my head: Dont give up. I sure didnt give up.
Knowing people did not believe in me made me work even harder to prove them wrong. I ended
up getting accepted to nine universities and got scholarships to two of them. Then again all my
hard work paid off, and I knew I could do anything I put my heart and mind to. The University of
North Carolina at Charlotte offered everything I needed to be successful in what I wanted to do.
Now I am a dance education major and a member of the Charlotte 49er Gold Dusters. I took
three dance classes last semester and learned more about dance than I thought was possible. My
ballet class has broaden my vocabulary in the ballet language and modern has taught me to
control my body during movements. Taking anatomy for dancers has really helped when it
comes to injuries because now I know what specific party of my body hurts. Taking the
improvisation course opened my eyes to dance in a new way by learning different shapes, levels,
movements our body can do. Being able to study what I love is a true blessing and I am so lucky
to be given this opportunity to grow even more as a dancer with awesome professors her at The
University of North Carolina at Charlotte.
There was one specific occurrence that opened my eyes to see dance in a whole new way.
My boyfriend was a baseball player and baseball was his life just as dance is my life. He worked

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so hard every day and was given a scholarship to play baseball at Virginia Tech University.
Opportunities dont roll around like that every day, so that was a huge accomplishment for him.
He was on a vacation with his family celebrating graduation and his accomplishments and within
a blink of an eye he was paralyzed from the neck down by swimming in the ocean. He was in the
hospital and therapy for months on months. The doctor told him he would never be able to walk
again, and would never get to play a sport he loved. Hearing him talk about not being able to
play baseball again made me realize that I can never take anything for granted. I danced every
day after that knowing at any moment it could be taken away from me when I least expect it. He
was such an inspiration to me and made my love for dance even stronger. I thank god every day
that I am able to do what I love and pray that one day he will too.
Dance has shaped me into who I am today. I have to give a big thanks to my parents for
all the support they had given to me throughout my journey to get to where I am now. I know
that if I keep pushing, keep working hard, and never give up that I can accomplish anything I
want. I have so many more goals and dreams for the future that I will continue to strive for. I
want to graduate college with a degree in Dance Education and a minor in Public Health. After
college I want to continue my passion for dance and teach at dance studios, coach a high school
or college dance team and perform on cruise ships. I would not mind getting paid to do what I
love. I cannot imagine a day without expressing myself and emotions through dance, it puts me
at ease getting to do what I love every day. Attending The University of North Carolina at
Charlotte was one of the greatest decisions I could have made because it is getting that much
closer to my next goals and has opened a whole new world of endless opportunities for me.