I have been a dancer my entire life. Six years ago, I was given the opportunity at my dance studio to become a Teaching Assistant. This role helps the teacher during class and acts as an additional leader for the dancers. Since then, I have assisted classes with children ages 4-12, and I’ve seen the profound impact a mentor can have on others. This past year I was assigned a dance class ages 10-12. By this point, I was an experienced assistant, and knew I would have no issues with the kids in the class. I was right, having an excellent time not only helping the students with dance steps, but getting to know them as well. One student, Ela, was the youngest in the class. Only in 4th grade, yet she was very dedicated. After class one day, she pulled me aside. “Miss Amanda, I think you’re an amazing dancer and I’m really inspired by you,” she said. “I want to try out for the Dance Team that you’re on and I was wondering if you could give me tips on how to get more flexible?” At this moment, I truly realized that the work I was doing as a Teaching Assistant mattered a lot more than I thought. It was one thing to simply demonstrate moves, it was another to inspire others to pursue the same path. Ela tried out and got a spot on the youngest Dance Team my studio offers for next year. Along with her, eight other students I have helped in the past are now members of the same team. As a rising senior, seeing the legacy I have taken part in is powerful, and I am grateful to have been even just a small part of the journey of so many young dancers.

My freshman year of high school, I read The Book Thief by Markus Zusak for my independent reading project. The novel remains one of the most beautiful and unique pieces of writing I have had the pleasure of experiencing. It not only brought me a new perspective on the Holocaust, an event that I have a deep connection to through my Jewish heritage, but on humanity as a whole. Something that stood out to me as I read the book was the point of view. The story is told through the personification of Death and his perspective through an event so deadly as the Holocaust. Through the whole book, he holds true to his belief that humans and their actions are almost too complex to understand. Humanity can be so many things, and all at the same time. It’s something interesting to think about, and this idea has stuck with me in the two years since turning the last page of the novel. In his commentary of the events occurring in the book, Death says, “I am haunted by humans.” Such a simple phrase, yet it could not be more true. Humans have more power than we think. The ability to inflict so much damage on one another, yet also deeply care for those we love. The duality of humanity is an awareness that has never left me after reading The Book Thief. To say I’ve been simply inspired by The Book Thief is not a powerful enough statement. It has changed my outlook on life. In life, there is good, bad, and everything in between. Of the many things that make me who I am, I try everyday to make sure “good” is one of them.

In elementary school, my school had two mottos. One was the acronym CARES — Cooperation, Assertion, Responsibility, Empathy, and Self-Control. The other was the ‘golden rule,’ or, “Treat others the way you want to be treated.” When my peers and I were taught the meaning of each word in CARES, I remember third-grade me deciding that empathy was the most important of all. The foundation of almost everything in life. If you cannot abide by the golden rule, you will not get anywhere. Giving off hatred only gets hatred in return. The way others respond to you is a reflection of yourself. To this day, my grade school opinion still rings true. As I’ve grown up, it has been demonstrated to me just how crucial empathy is, and more importantly, how so many people lack it. Current events show that people need to care about each other just a little more than they care about themselves. I am now a junior in high school. Seventeen years old, and still looking back on the lessons I was taught at age ten. Learning at such a young age the concept of empathy has set me up for success for the rest of my life. I try to be considerate of others at all times, and when I have the urge to say something behind a person’s back, I remember that I would not want that person doing the same to me. Being self-aware and actively being empathetic is one of the qualities I pride myself in. Every interaction I’ve had and every impression I’ve made in my life thus far has been backed up by empathy. I project empathy into the world hoping that everyone else will soon do it too, just like third-grade me would want.

This year in my English class, we read the novel Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell. His main argument throughout the book is that while hard work and perseverance is a component of gaining success, in almost every case there has to be another special circumstance, quality, or even lucky break to push someone over the edge from having potential to truly being successful. Reading this book and realizing what actually goes into success has streamlined my own process of getting there. Of course I will continue to always put my best foot forward and work as hard as I can, but I will keep in mind that to achieve success, there is most likely a nuanced factor that will get me there. In the future I plan to work in the literary industry, hopefully as an editor or writer. I am aware that this is not an easy feat. I am prepared to work for it, but I understand that I need to be in the right place at the right time to be successful. If it does not work out, so be it. I try and try again until it does, until the stars align so that it is my perfect opportunity to step into the career that I know I am meant to be in. I trust that if I am supposed to be in a certain place, I will be, and a hint of luck in tandem with dedication and perseverance is sure to get me far.

I heard Vienna for the first time as I watched the movie 13 Going on 30 when I was about 8 or 9. I was immediately captivated by the very fitting lyrics as I watched grown-up Jenna come home to her parents' house, longing to be a child again – “Slow down, you crazy child, take the phone off the hook and disappear for a while.” Even at such a young age, listening to this song made me reflect on how I should be spending my youthful years. All of my life I have struggled between wanting to grow up vs. staying young. Do I rush through everything now in anticipation of what’s to come, or do I savor every specific time in my life? When I listen to Vienna, I realize the answer is the latter. No matter how eager I am to experience being out of the house and on my own, I know I will never get this precious time as a teenager back again. Over the years, I feel that this song makes more and more sense. The lyrics are just what I need to hear, but every time for a different reason. Most recently, they have reminded me to slow down, or as Billy Joel would say, “Slow down, you’re doing fine, you can’t be everything you want to be before your time.” And it’s true. I have my whole life ahead of me. I can’t spend all my days now worrying about the future. High school is not a transitory period; it is a time full of memories and experiences of its own. Every day, I keep in mind the lyrics of Vienna. I remember to slow down, and not get so ahead of myself that I forget what I need.