My Visit To Cookstown University

The mild smell of sweat, the absent sound of children’s pitter-pattering feet, the fresh, cool feeling of the wind coming through the door, and the beautiful sight of an empty area full of creative potential, makes it a perfect Sunday evening for my dance instructor. I sit in the center of the empty dance studio with my ears wide open as my dance instructor sits by my side. She is wearing her favorite black, velvet dress lined with snake patterned cuffs, elegant pieces of jewelry, and black leather boots. She sits patiently, yet eagerly as I start questioning her about her college years, and as she begins to remember some of her most memorable times. She begins to think about important lessons and experiences that she gained throughout …show more content…
"I went to Cookstown University because of its fantastic art program," she explained with pride. Going to college really allowed her to learn more about herself. For example, the moment that she actually learned the crucial skill of listening really seemed to change her outlook on life. “During freshman year of college, I stayed with a pastor and his family to get a tour of, and become more familiar with the campus,” she described carefully. During the visit, the pastor kept asking her questions. After the conversation, she remembers telling her sister, “I have not heard myself talk that much in my entire life.” This astonished my dance instructor. “It floored me," she states. "As a teenager growing up, I never really felt heard. I feel that you learn more about yourself by expressing yourself. After really opening up to the pastor, I began to understand the feeling of actually being listened to. It was an experience I will never forget,” she says as she sits back in her chair, and reflects on the moment. By opening up about her feelings, she got a chance to understand herself. Therefore, she realized that she had missed out on this important skill for so long. After this occurrence, she had an epiphany. She made it her life goal to start listening and making people feel understood and loved. “From that point on, I viewed him as my …show more content…
She described how she began listening to others more often. That day not only enabled her to get through college, but it is also active in her life today. Her experience caused both negative and positive effects on who is she today. “Because I spent a lot more time talking about my feelings, and being more drawn out, I became aware of a lot of feelings that I had. I realized that I never took care of these emotions as a child. In this way I felt that what I learned caused problems, and acted as a nuisance,” she described with sorrow. She mentioned, that because of this she felt depressed and overwhelmed by her feelings, which ultimately started to impact her grades as well as her successes. Negativity did shine through earlier in her explorations. However, as she grew, she also began to experience the event’s more desirable consequences. For instance, she emphasized on the fact, that if she had never learned how to listen, her dance studio's philosophy and successes would have never been possible. She informed me that her goal for her studio is to pass on the feeling of being heard, much like the feeling she felt many years ago. “It shaped how much I can love people throughout a career," she said as she sat up in her chair. "People can feel more loved by showing who they are inside, rather than if they focus on technical movements. I feel like that's what I do with dance," she opined with