My first EKG was at age two. My mom tells the story with love, recalling how my dad stood by during the procedure—his face pale, his eyes filled with tears. He was terrified I might have his heart. A heart born with a bicuspid aortic valve. A heart that, as a child, kept him from playing team sports. A heart that has endured two open-heart surgeries. In my family, healthy hearts matter—biologically and emotionally. Often, I place my head against my father’s chest to hear his heartbeat, to live in his moment, to become one heart, one beat with him. Since that same age of two, I’ve been dancing. I created a beat for myself in both my head and my heart—one that gave me peace and invited me into a world where music took over and my body spoke. Whether twirling to 2000s club remixes in the living room while my mom cleaned, or dancing down grocery store aisles, I was always in motion. Feeling the beat, letting my heart lead—dance became my voice, my comfort, my joy. Dance and music stayed with me through elementary school as I performed in school musicals and participated in the elementary school rock band. Dance carried me through the isolation of COVID-19 shutdowns in middle school and has helped me stay grounded through the social uncertainty of high school. My training led me to take all forms of dance from jazz to tap to pointe. I've been in more productions than I can count, from the yearly studio recitals to performances at school pep rallies and dancing on the sidelines at football games. I am excited that dance will continue to guide me as I pursue a Dance major at Rowan University. Knowing I’ll be dancing at the collegiate level is proof of my passion. I’m excited to choreograph, perform, and form a new rhythm—my own one heart, one beat—in a new chapter of life. This will be my first time dancing without the girls I've known since I was two, my first time performing under new instructors, and my first time living away from home. Still, I’m confident that the beat of my father’s heart—and the rhythm of my family’s love—will carry me forward. And I know, when I need grounding, I can always return to him, lay my head on his chest, and hear the one heart one beat that first gave me life—and gave life to my love of dance.