For as long as I can remember I have been on the dance floor. Ever since I was young I have always been a mover. Anytime I am dancing I feel the emotion through each move. Dance has always been there as an outlet ever since I was young. This is why I have been in dance for about sixteen years of my life. Five of those years I have danced competitively for my studio; and recently joining Michigan State Universities dance club. I think the biggest things I took away from dance is discipline and perseverance. One of the most heard things from dance is the amount of control and discipline it takes to be a dancer. I would have to agree with that sentiment. Throughout my years of dance I will say I didn't always have self control. Even at danced I struggled with this. But through practice and hardship I learned great technique and discipline in and out of the dance studio. My next biggest challenge came with failures. My personality is very perfectionist and sometimes it was very hard to fail when it came to dance. One of these key memories for dance was when I first thought about joining our competitive team. Every year to be a part of the team you have to audition. When I first auditioned I was eleven years old, this was something that was very nerve-racking. Even though I was scared I still showed up and tried my best. After the auditions were over I felt good about myself and all I had to do was wait for the results. After about what felt like forever the results came out. This is when I felt the soul-crushing realization that I didn't make the team. While this may seem trivial now it had a huge impact on me. I was so embarrassed about it after the fact; I felt crushed. But after about a week or so I picked myself back up. One thing that I always was told is to "sink or swim" and I decided that day that I was going to swim. This is just one of many examples of how dance taught me to persevere. Like I said I danced competitively so my dances were scored. Sometimes the scores weren't exactly what I though they were going to be. Regardless, even if I got a bad score it didn't stop me from doing what I love. All in all, dance has been a huge part in my life and I would be surprised if it hasn't had an impact on the person I am. While I have learned so much about dance I have also learned more about myself than I realized.

I think most girls at a young age are told that "you can be anything when you grow up". Which can be up for debate. Regardless, I took this advice and engraved it into my mind. For a long time I was very lost for what I wanted to do. Besides not having a clear path I worked very hard through my education. The main thing I did know is that I wanted an education that would eventually lead to great opportunities. I made sure through high school to earn high grades in all my classes. This eventually led me to the path I want to be on. To start, during my high school career I took multiple AP classes and other advanced classes. I took these classes because I wanted to prove that I can achieve things that are hard. While some of my AP scores didn't go as planned I overcame that and got a 5 on my AP government and politics test, a 3 on my AP literature test, and a 4 on my AP psychology exam. While these classes were hard I made sure to work hard to achieve the things I want. Besides just classes I received over a 4.0 weighted GPA at the end of high school and made it into a big ten school. While this can be considered a goal in itself I want more. To restate, I didn't have a clear goal in my mind for a long time. But recently I think I've discovered my "Pie in the Sky" goal. I am currently a first year student at Michigan State University and working towards a degree in pre-law. My goal for the future is to be able to practice law and hopefully become involved in politics. Most people think that law is a guaranteed career; but from my own research I don't think that's the case. Especially for women in a mostly male dominated profession, it is a hard career to secure a job. Even though it's hard I still want to reach this goal. Like I mentioned the second half of this dream is to be involved in politics. Politics has been something I've been interested for a long time. I think now more than ever politics has become something that we can't ignore. My goal for my political career would to serve in congress most likely as a representative in the house. Again a fear with this goal is how hard it is to be a woman in politics and to make it to higher positions. This is the reality of the world today. All in all, besides the challenges I will face I want to achieve my goal even if it seems unattainable. My steps to this goal started by working hard in high school and getting accepted into a sought out college. I'm starting by pursuing a degree in pre-law and more than likely go to law school. These steps will lead me to my goal even if it seems far away.