Undergraduate / UC prompt #2- why I spend my summers dancing [3]

Prompt #2 Tell us about a personal quality, talent, accomplishment, contribution or experience that is important to you. What about this quality or accomplishment makes you proud and how does it relate to the person you are?

Blood, sweat, and tears. For the past three summers, this is what I looked forward to every morning. Hair pulled back, uniformed in a leotard, and armed with bobby pins, I would willingly march into battle. For me, dance has always been worth the pain. My blisters and bruises were battle scars, my worn out shoes a trophy. I spent my past summer at a contemporary intensive, the two prior studying ballet, and I can't imagine spending them any other way.

Summer intensives (the month-long dance programs I participate in) are brutal. As much as I love them, there were some days when I found myself with no motivation to even drag myself out of bed. During sleepless nights where simply rolling over would cause a wave of pain, it was hard to imagine waking up and dancing the next morning. Yet by 9:00, I would find myself in the familiar dance studios, warming up to take class. As soon as I began moving, the pain would fade.

When I dance, I'm free. It's really that simple. I can only be present. I don't think about the lack of sleep I got the previous night, or if my leotard matches my shorts. All I feel is what is happening to my body at every moment as it happens. I feel the blood in my veins, the sweat dripping from my forehead, the music. The pain I was in before, the pain I will be in after, has no relevance. The reward isn't even in the perfect execution of movement or the flawless routines-- it's in the raw, joyous energy I feel when I dance. This is why I choose to spend my summers dancing.

I think I need to make it longer and go into more detail. Thoughts?

Undergraduate / "Dance and the Body" - University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign [3]

Prompt: How have your past circumstances and experiences (such as your upbringing, community, and/or activities) impacted who you are, your future goals, and your choice of major? If you haven't decided on a college or major yet, briefly explain your intentions and aspirations for your first year at Illinois. Please limit your response to approximately 300 words.

As a kid, I loved going to the doctor's office. I was never the kid who threw a fit before getting in the car, or who ran around the room screaming in protest of a shot. As strange as it sounds, I actually looked forward to yearly checkups. I was never afraid to see my doctor, unlike most children my age. Instead, I was fascinated with how everything worked. The stethoscope, checking my blood pressure, the throat swabs... all of it was so intriguing. I loved that my doctor could know exactly what was wrong with me from a simple examination or a few tests. To me, it was magical how well she knew the human body.

The allure of anatomy stems from my need to understand how my body worked at an early age. I've been taking ballet classes since I was 3 years old, and starting then, its been essential to be in touch with my body. I've had to learn to control my toes separately from my feet and my feet separately from my legs. I know how to breathe into a tight muscle, how the knees have to be aligned with the toes, and where my ischial tuberocities and greater trochanter are. A dancer doesn't simply know movement, but why and how she moves. Dance has lead me to know my body very well, but there is so much more to discover.

In taking AP Biology, I've delved further into the mysterious world of the body. I love knowing the details that create the big picture and the reasons why things happen the way they do. At University of Illinois, I want to pursue my desire to know more about the human body, and still take dance classes to fuel my drive to know more. By studying Biology, I can go even more in depth, while still maintaining my personal connection to my body through dance. University of Illinois has a prestigious dance curriculum, and I hope to be involved in that as well.