I actually came to NYC to be a ballroom dancer. In high school, my ballroom teacher told me I had potential, and that it would be a shame if I didn't try to become a professional dancer. I moved to the city on that dream.
Well, spoiler alert, I'm not a professional ballroom dancer. But in the ballroom dancing community, I found a kind and selfless home. A home where mentors spend dozens of hours with you for free, teaching you lessons they could be reasonably charging 100/hr for. A home in which high levels of dance are accessible to those who walk into college having never set foot on a dance floor before. A home in which in which I myself would eventually sink hundreds of hours into, because I love it like I love few things in the world.
To my partners,
@arjunhrao ,
@liamcoau , and
@yemng_pls , thank you for inspiring me to dance, and for laughing with me, usually because one of us had said some stupid shit or discovered we could do something weird with our legs or some such.
To my Big Apple Dancesport Challenge team, esp
@infernaught @monochrome.keys ,
@alexisloh.qc @s.e.han , you for dealing with my 2am ponderings, for making me laugh until I almost pee, and for being wonderful humans who care so much.
To my mentors,
@yemng_pls (hi again),
@crystal.s.song ,
@willxtong ,
@_wchao You are my mentors in dance and in life and my god I'm never letting go now that I found you.
To my NYU Eboard illuminati, esp
@justinliu2k and
@a_renaissance_lady , my god we did it. All three of us stepped into our roles because we knew the team would not survive without us, but I'm so glad it means I found you two as my safe place and gaming buddies.
To my NYU home team. God, I love you guys.
@miss_minj ,
@charlottedankwah ,
@sydelin1999 ,
@arjunnagasiddappa ,
@calvinycheng ,
@vikieluo , my mentors and mentees, I would not be nearly so in love with ballroom without every one of you.
And finally, to dance. You were my first love. How few things ever made so much sense as when I was dancing. How rare it was that I felt beautiful or capable as a child, or even now. How it makes my blood sing. And how wonderful that extra kind of magic involved that I can’t describe.
I love you all.
