Personal Narrative: Irish Dance

I was so excited! At age 6, my mom took me to a local municipal building to learn how to tap my feet to fiddler music. I had entered the world of Irish dance and by age 9, I was on a plane to Nashville, Tennessee to compete in the National Championships. I was hoping to even get a glimpse of Michael Flatley, as I had heard he sometimes showed up. Who would have thought wearing an uncomfortable wig, extremely tight shoes and dancing in an unnatural position could be so much fun? But I loved it! Even at that young age, I didn’t mind standing in line with other girls and repeating the same moves for up to an hour until they were perfected; of course perfection hardly exists in the world of Irish Dance. In the beginning I was a natural, …show more content…
Although I had not qualified for Nationals as a single dancer, our dance team qualified for the World Championships! This is like the Olympics of Irish Dance; a once in a lifetime experience! Just as I was on this “dance high” the foot pain came back. Once again, through a visit to the orthopedic I was on the verge of yet another stress fracture, so into the boot I went. This left me with tough decisions to make. My teacher needed an answer; was I going to go to Worlds with the team? I felt I had to do what was best for the team. I knew deep down I could not give everything I wanted to give, so I withdrew. Because I had been dealing with pain and fractures for almost 2 years, I also decided I needed to quit this activity. I cried a lot. This was all I had …show more content…
During my earlier years, I attended a small Christian school with 26 students in my grade. Now I was moving to a larger high school of around 200 in my grade. These kids had known each other their whole life and there aren’t too many new kids in our district. This presented a challenge. I had to change lunch tables a few times in trying to find the right people to surround myself with. I also felt insecure academically. The school was on a block schedule which meant fewer classes, but the classes are more intense. I had to get used to learning a lot of information in a short amount of time. Overcoming adversity was not new to me, so I knew I could do it. By the end of my freshman year, I got into the swing of things. Now I know to form relationships with my teachers, ask for help and not be afraid to take the hard classes. I think dance as well as running have taught me that I can overcome things physically and