Jumping out of your comfort zone & doing something you never thought you'd do

           Throughout high school I had a large presence in many of my high schools different clubs & activities. But I am really a shy & quiet girl and I was never in the "popular" grouping but many students & teachers knew who I was (as well as my close friends from these groups). My friends & I were pretty well known for our extra curricular work in the school and for the most part liked ( At least by the teachers!). Even though we basically hid in the shadows the whole time. But then the end came, GRADUATION. We actually weren't ready to move on and decided to come back again the follow September & do another semester.

       So last year when me and some of my BEST high school friends were doing the victory semester after graduation, we were helping the school health nurse with a clothing swap. The end of the day came but we all decided to leave the clothing swap set up for another hour so people could come after school if they wanted. We decided to fool around and dance on the stage since not many people were around & we already had the sound system set up ( Thanks to yours truly) . While we were dancing and just having fun one of the teachers came in to talk to us about doing the lighting & sound for the talent show the following month. The school nurse looked at us and said we should enter, we kind of laughed it off and said "but we don't have an act, none of us are ACTUALLY dancers". After about half an hour we decided to try and put something together and leave high school with  bang, even though the only ACTUAL in studio dance training any of us had was when I went to bring a friend week @ my cousins dance school many years before.

        The six of us made a spur of the moment decision to put together a dance, and perform it in front of the entire school in a little over a month. It was actually really scary so we came up with the idea to do a glow in the dark dance. We supported each other when we got frustrated & discouraged. We attempted to stay positive the entire time and dedicated to rehearsals after school. Spent lots of time together editing the music, practising our moves, filming it & reviewing it. It was a crazy process but we became so excited about it after a few weeks that there was no turning back. The day came and the talent show was just hours away, we were all at the school at 5:30am to set up the sound system & lighting, to do a little more secret practising, and get our glow in the dark paint and white clothing on. We became the 2nd last act in the show due to some moving around, but we were glad to have some extra time before performing. The moment came and the MC's were talking about the previous act as we set up. My friend S and I were behind a platform in position to start I was so nervous but determined to get through it. S looked at me and whispered " I can't do this!" I was thinking the same thing but how could we just give up now? I gave her a little talk while the Mc's were starting to introduce us & reminded her its in the dark they can't see who we are. Whoever was doing the music for us messed up but quickly fixed it & started over. We did the dance and had a blast, my friend K did get hit in the head by a glow stick which we had thrown out to the crowd before the dance but we just moved on. We finished the dance & ran outside into the snow and had  mini celebration in the parking lot being so excited that we did it. Then got changed so no one could tell we had any part of the dance & returned to helping with the final performance.

      One other special moment I hope I never forget was after the students had filed out & we began cleaning up. My guidance councillor asked the school health nurse about the dance and who was in it. We all tried so hard to act normal but she figured out it was at least some of us. Then my guidance councillor pulled me aside and asked which one I was in the dance, then she gave me a hug & said " Good for you! I am so proud of you". That moment meant a lot to me & I hope it always will. I have even heard from teachers when we go to visit that other students who we don't even know have continued this! Other students have been doing glow in the dark dances too. Wow did we start a trend? OMG for once I'm a trendsetter!

   Don't be afraid to go out on a limb every once in awhile & do something new and something kind of scary. None of us never dreamed of ever doing anything like this, but we made a spur of the moment decision and said "Lets just do it!". It was worth it! <3 Love you girls! ( K,S,E,J,J,A)