Chelsea LeaMrs. SchoendallerSenior PortfolioSeptember 10, 2014Behind the CurtainMy heart is hammering against my chest so hard it feels as if it is trying to escape. I'm certain that if anyone was to get really close and listen, they would be able to hear it pounding. Wiping my hands on the front of my shirt, I try to calm my nerves and take deep breaths. I'm petrified. The hurricane of butterflies that are swarming in my stomach quicken even more as the lights dim down. The once deafening sound of chatter quiets and is overcome by the screech of ropes and pulleys, and fabric as it is being swept to the side. Its pitch black but I can still make out the exit signs all around the room. I t ...view middle of the document...
Through the next year, I would be severely bullied and out casted by people I had once called my friends. Tired of sitting alone at lunch, I decided to eat in our school library where I became very close friends with the school librarian, Mrs. Greenwall, and with her help my eyes were open to the world of literature. Before that time I avoided excess reading unless it was absolutely necessary, but at that point, I clung to it like a life preserver. I read approximately 140 books that year and I haven't stopped since. I am such a dedicated reader some may classify it as an obsession. Through reading and schoolwork I survived the attacks that were aimed at me and eventually realized that the opinion of those girls did not define me. I decided to do something that I could be proud of and no one could take away from me. I joined dance classes.Dance became a passion in my life bigger than any other. I have learned the fundamentals of music and the art of dance. I made new friends in class and met some of the biggest role models of my life. Including my first dance teacher, Miss Tasia Cooper. She helped me in ways that can't even be explained, she brought a purpose to my life and helped heal a part of me that had been broken for a while. I was and am at my best when I dance, when I'm telling a story with my body and reaching the audience, I am exactly where I belong.That's what I thought anyway, until I got an email from the new dance studio owner Mr. Jesse Cooper, who was also Miss Tasia's brother. Would I be interested in assisting Miss Tasia and Mr. Jesse in the beginner dance classes? Me? An assistant teacher? I had never done anything like this before but it only took me a moment to reply. Yes, I would love to help teach classes! I was 15 years old at the time. My first part time job and I was doing something I loved.I would assist at the studio for three years, each year making a difference in my life, but none like the first. I connected with kid...
