Bold Patience Matters Scholarship

Patience is important to me because it allows me to encourage my young dance students and it builds both their character and mine. I teach dance at the Tennessee Conservatory of Fine Arts, and the goal of my young students is to earn their first pair of pointe shoes. Pointe shoes to three to five-year-old little girls are like the ruby slippers were to Dorothy. After a few dance classes, they ask when will they get their first pair of pointe shoes. When I tell them that the average age for the first pair is around eleven years old, that often seems like forever to their young minds. So, we focus on how to strengthen the legs, feet and bodies so that they will grow to be strong dancers and earn their pointe shoes. My patience with their endless questions and times when they begin to doubt themselves, assures them that with weekly work, they will achieve their goal. I listen actively to their questions, and patiently answer their concerns. This shows the girls that they do matter, and I truly value their concerns and them as human beings. Their little ballet shoes rarely stay tied all the way thru class, so I have to show patience, gentleness and kindness while we make the “bunny ears” and learn to tie our shoes and tuck in the laces. My family showed patience to me. I am the youngest sibling, and they took time to show me how to tie my shoes when I outgrew Velcro shoe enclosures. Patience and kindness are contagious, and they are especially important to exhibit to young children, the elderly and those who need more time to accomplish tasks. I hope my patience with my young dancers will result in them being patient to others as well.