“It was this previous summer, and I was at dance nationals in Orlando. I was in like eight dances at the competition. My tap/musical theatre dance was one of my favorite dances ever. It was a spin off the Broadway show Newsies. My call time was like six a.m., and we didn’t dance until like nine a.m. It was such a long day. All I remember was that we were all really confident with our performance when we came offstage. Around eight p.m. the awards started. The announcer called out the awards from tenth place to first. He had finished saying all the awards for tenth to third, so only first and second place were left. The guy called the two remaining teams up to the front. We all sprinted to the front of the stage. Somehow I ended up being in front where the announcer will ask you questions. He handed me the microphone, and I said our studio name and dance teacher. Second place was announced and everyone did a drum roll. It was a really good feeling to hear the other dance team’s name called. We had won national championships. They handed us all really cool jackets; we were so excited. Looking back on the experience now, I think that it really taught me that hard work pays off.”