I pushed back tears as I danced across the floor — again. I found myself thinking, she gave this combination because she knows you are capable of doing it. But why can’t I do it? At last, I did it. My muscles ached, feeling like jello and I wanted nothing more than to collapse onto the bar as I approached it. I knew I couldn’t stop now though — I don’t practice until I get it right, I practice until I can’t get it wrong.

I’ve danced my whole life yet every class I faced a new set of challenges. It was easy for me to get frustrated as a dancer but I could never reflect that on the outside. Pretending like my blistered toes and aching muscles weren’t killing me were insanely hard to conceal. Getting on stage dancing in front of hundreds of people and having to neglect every outside distraction was the hardest, however. School work, family life, friendships and heartbreaks all had to be pushed to the side when it was my time to dance. I had to portray a whole new person on stage, no matter what I had to face throughout the day or week. 

It was hard, but Ms. McCloud was always there to help me. She not only was an amazing dance teacher, but she created a bond with each dancer. She cracked jokes that cheered me up even when it felt as if the whole world was crashing down around me. She pushed me to be better in every class. I knew that even though I could’ve had a bad day, going to dance was one thing I looked forward to. It’s hard having to remove internal struggles from showing on the outside, but she made it so easy for me to focus on the good right there in front of me. 

She made me fall in love with dancing. There’s been times where I fell out of love with it, but she was always there to guide me no matter what. There is not a single time I stand on the side of a stage and not think of her. To this day, I am so thankful that I was lucky enough to not only meet and know Ms. McCloud, but also to be able to learn and grow from such an inspiring, influential, and important woman.