Something You've Done That You Didn't Want to Do

In life everyone has had to do something that they didn't enjoy. My hidden talent is dance. I have been taking tap dance lessons for the past 12 years, and I still continue to do so. My, New York, dance team has traveled down the east coast and has performed for all different types of audiences; hip hop fans, people from the church, and more. Even though most people used to view dance as a way to express themselves, I used to see it as something that was mandatory.

I began to dance when I was in the first grade. I begged my parents to let me join. While most of the girls that I knew wanted to learn hip-hop and ballet, I chose to learn tap. I just loved the sound that the shoes made. When first joining TDO (Tap Dancing Only) of course I wasn't the best, but nobody expected me to be. All that my parents wanted for me to do was have fun, and I did. I was always ready to go to dance practice. I loved being around all of the other kids, I loved the props, and I loved all of the shiny cute costumes. However, I didn't need any of those things, because dancing gave me an indescribable joy. Dancing wasn't just a hobby to me it was a lifestyle, something that I had fun doing. I absolutely loved it. When I got a little bit older, I began to use tap dancing as an outlet. Dance was my freedom of expression. I danced when I was happy, excited, sad, and sometimes even angry. My emotion showed in the way that my body moved to the music. Yes, my bond with dance was extremely strong, but twelve years is a long time to dedicate yourself to something. Along the way I began to feel like the love between me and dancing was beginning to deteriorate.

As the years continued to go by, dance became less of a hobby and more like a job. It was being taken much more seriously. I was beginning to see my social life disappear before my eyes. I could no longer go out with my friends, or just hang in the house. All of my time was spent in school, at dance practice, or in my basement, practicing. It was never ending. Dancing was supposed to be something that was fun, but instead it became something that I dreaded. I would wake up, trying to make up excuses so that I could skip practice. No longer was I that little girl that loved the tapping sound that my shoes had made. Just hearing that sound made me sick to my stomach. I was beginning to hate everything about it; the late night practicing, the pressure to be the best, and everyone counting on me to lead. It was all too much. However, I forced myself to continue, I was never raised to be a quitter. I tried to push through my misery, but everyone could tell that something was missing. I didn't have the glow in my eyes anymore. Dancing was no longer fun. Eventually, I had let the pressure from my parents, my instructor, and myself get to me and I did the exact thing that I never wanted to do, I quit.

The break that I decided to take was a much needed one. After