Don't Miss Your Dance

This being my first year at ISU, I attended quite a few conferences and events at the beginning of the year. However, I soon realized that I could spend my time on more entertaining things. When asked to write about one of these events, none really thrilled me to the point of writing about it in a blog. On the other hand, I did go to a swing dance club that provided an interesting experience.

I come from a small high school. We don’t have that many extracurricular activities available to us, so when we were offered a swing dancing class, I was among the many who signed up. I had a blast, and the steps were fun and fast. It stands to follow that, when I saw a swing dance club advertised at ISU, I jumped at the opportunity.

It was sort of a BYOP (bring your own partner) kind of thing. I convinced my roommate to go with me, and together we snatched a couple guys to drag along. We had already missed a few weeks of the class, but the advertisement said that each class was essentially the same and that the basic steps would be taught each class. Perfect. We strolled in a couple minutes late, prepared to be swept off our feet by the rhythm. What we found was that the “basics” had already been reviewed, and the dance was in full swing. (Pardon the pun).

There were probably about thirty people there. Unfortunately, the ratio of guys to girls wasn’t exactly perfect. This meant that a few girls had to either sit out or find another female partner. Each time the whistle blew, we had to switch partners. This meant that even though we had brought partners, those same partners were quickly stolen away.

For those of you who have never been to a swing dance, there is essentially a basic step that is repeated throughout any tricks or swings your partner decides to pull. This makes it difficult for girls to dance together because the steps are completely and utterly backwards.

You can imagine the scenario. Not only were we not familiar with these basic steps, but, every once in a while, we would have to do those same steps backwards. Needless to say, we had a ton of fun while making complete fools of ourselves.

However, I did learn some lessons from the whole experience. First, swing dancing is a blast, even when you are not so sure of what you are doing. Second, bring more than one guy to a swing dance with you. And lastly, don’t be afraid to dance outside your comfort zone. You might be pleasantly surprised by what you find.

Looking Ahead

Last week during spring break, I went home. I remember thinking that I couldn’t wait to see all my old friends. I planned to go visit my old high school and walk around talking to the people I left behind. I was excited as I thought about all the fun times I had. Still reminiscing, I left a few comments on my friends’ Facebook walls, seeing if they would like to hang out. To my surprise, I found that most of my friends were busy.

I have noticed that graduating is the biggest wedge between friends. There is a gap between those in high school and college students. I ended up going back to my high school last week. A little background explanation is probably needed here. I graduated from a class of twenty. I have been going to the same school since kindergarten. I have had the same friends since kindergarten. Everybody knows everybody at my school. Since coming to college, I have missed that closeness, although I found it stifling while I was there.

However, when I went back, I saw faces I did not recognize, faces I could not name. There were new students, people had left, teachers had left, and some had been hired. My high school seemed different. It was not the same.

This is when I realized how much changes as we go through life. I looked back on all the students with a sort of sadness. They would never know about the crazy times that my friends and I had had in that school. But after I thought about it, I decided that it was probably a good thing.

All those new kids might not know what my friends and I did, but they have a chance to have their own experiences. We all have to live our own lives. Those who went to ISU four years ago probably look back on us and wonder if we know about the things they went through. I have found that I need to live my life to the fullest, now. Ann Landers once said, “Nobody gets to live life backward. Look ahead, that is where your future lies.”

I plan on looking ahead.

Future Plans

When I was asked what I would do with close to eighty thousand dollars in cash, I really did not know. My first instinct was to pay off college, but the one condition was that it could not be spent on education. Ok, so cross off option one. Now I was stumped. My whole life had been planned around education. I sat back and started to truly think about what I would do. I realized that there are several factors that influence my decision

Since my freshman year in high school, I have wanted to be a special education teacher. I fell in love with Torey Hayden’s books about her career in special education. My junior year, I meant a guy on a mission trip to Shepherds, a ministry for the mentally disabled in Wisconsin. He had come with my youth group, but I had not known him that well. During the mission trip, we were paired up as prayer partners. We really got to know each other. That fall we started dating, and we have been together now for almost three years. He is planning to be a firefighter.

During this time of figuring out my relationships, my mom was diagnosed with lymphoma (cancer of the lymph nodes). My mom and I have always been very close. I chose to attend Illinois State University not only because it is an amazing school for special education, but because it is only forty-five minutes from home. She has been through several procedures and chemo and has been declared to be in remission. However, lymphoma can never be cured completely, and remission is not always permanent.

So when thinking about how I wanted to spend my money, I realized that I would not want to go far from home. I would miss my mother too much. I also would not want to leave my boyfriend behind. We are very close, and I would not want to be apart from my best friend. I finally decided that if I had all that money, I would want to spend it on responsible things. I would buy my dream truck, and with the extra money, I would put a down payment on a house. This might seem boring, but I am happy with my life. There isn’t much I would want to change, so I am perfectly content to spend my money in this way.