Day 9 in quarantine. The last few days I have actually done so much better at accepting this bad situation. However, tensions are still high after being stuck with just my family for this long, and there are many times where my frustration still gets the best of me. Fortunately, I have the studio. Being able to go down to the studio and practice alone has been so great during this break. Dancing has been the perfect outlet for my boredom and anger.

Today I danced my first hard shoe full since November. Making my comeback after being injured for six months has proved to be so much harder than I ever imagined. While the stress reaction on my femur is healed, my sprained ankle has already come back. Additionally, three months of complete rest has left me more out of shape than I have been in years. While my dancing today was no where close to perfect, just getting through my full routine was such a victory. I am slowly getting back to the dancer I was months ago. In the past three months, I missed dancing every single day. Now, even practicing alone in the studio has brought me back so much joy.

March passed by in a crazy, busy blur. I danced, I did homework, I got sick, and I missed more days of this challenge than I ever have before. Despite my failure to write every single day, I still saw success this month. I’ve grown as a dancer and as a person which is something I’m proud of. I’m sure next year will be just as busy as this one, but I will continue to work towards my goals. Hopefully next year I will be able to balance my busy schedule with this challenge.

I grinned as the little sprites began entering the room. This class always makes me laugh and brightens my day. As we sat in our circle before class started, one little girl decided to announce that her birthday is in two days. Another little girl looked up quickly. “Mine is too!” She shouted. The second girl’s mom instantly looked up and around at the other moms. I laughed as the girl’s mom shook her head, informing us all that her daughter’s birthday was not until July. Little kids never cease to amaze me with the stories that they conjure up.

We trudged across the wet campus, our hoods up in attempt to shield ourselves from the rain. It wasn’t an ideal day for a college visit, but we didn’t have many other options. My head was reeling with thoughts as we walked. So many different options for my future had just been presented to me. I tried not to stress, however, and instead laughed with my friends as we imagined how ridiculous we must have looked with our hoods up. I still have two years until college. For now, I’m just going to focus on exploring all of my options.

All of the scheduling information sat in front of me, taunting me with it’s blank spaces. I still have no clue what classes I want to take next year. From picking between AP and honors classes, to having to choose from the countless electives, I have so many decisions to make. These decisions could either be completely irrelevant in a few years, or they could decide my entire future. As of now, I have no way of knowing the impact of my choices. All I can do is take the advice from those around me and choose what I think will benefit me the most.

I sat on my floor listening to my music, not even realizing how late it had gotten. I finally checked the clock, surprised to find that it was only minutes away from midnight. I quickly got onto the website to write my slice. We didn’t have any school today, so I mostly just relaxed today. I practiced for dance, jumped on the trampoline with my little brother, and made brownies. It was overall a pretty good day.

Every Wednesday and Thursday I help teach the classes at my dance troupe. One of my favorite parts of this is all of the little girls. At 4:30, girls from ages 4-7 come spilling in the door. They laugh and smile and say all sorts of funny things as they dance. The class always passed by quickly and soon enough we are on the ground stretching and making a “pizza.” Each girl takes their turn to tell us what they want to add to the pizza. Pizzas always make me laugh because girls add things like “all of the candy in the world” or “an old lady.” At the end, all of the girls get stickers and then run out of the room giggling with joy. Each week they come back with new stories to tell and new ways to make us laugh.

I made it through St. Patrick’s Day before the sickness finally got the best of me. We were almost done with our final performance when I lost my voice. I spent the rest of the day with a sore throat and an awful cough. That night I hardly slept. The next day, however; I slept the entire day. I was too sick to move, too sick to eat, too sick to even make myself write my slice. Today I finally gave myself a break. I took a day off of school and just spent the day recovering. Tomorrow I’ll go back to school, face all of my makeup work, and go back to dance. Until then, I will continue to rest.

Huge smile

Point on five

Ready on eight

Push through the dance

Burning throat

Point and bow

Walk off stage