A dancer's life can be hard, especially whenyou want to attend events, hang out with friends and dotypical teenage stuff. It takes a lot of time and dedicationto dance at my level. And it also is expensive. If you areworking toward being a professional, there is a lot you haveto give up. But after witnessing what one girl at The DanceCentre did just to dance, I realize how lucky I am and itbecomes easier to make the time to do something Ilove.

This girl loves to dance and nothing will stopher. When she was younger she had major back problems. Herfamily did not have the money to pay for the surgery sheneeded, so they sacrificed their car and worked two jobs. Bothsurgeries were successful and once she healed, she wanted todance again. Her parents continued to work two jobs and sheand her sister also started working to help pay tuition. Thenshe hurt her ankle while dancing and had to stop again. Tocatch up, she started taking three classes at one time (whoknows when she had the time).

    Now she travels to dance on her own. She takes a bus for anhour and one-half just to get there. She is still working twojobs plus attending college, never missing a class. She stillexperiences back pain occasionally, and her ankle never healedright, but she continues to push through the pain to dosomething she loves. It makes me take a second look at howlucky I am that I don't have to worry about back pain ormaking sure I am on time at the bus stop.

Knowing herstory helps me work harder at something I love even when I amhaving a down day. That is why she is an inspiration to me.