Laila is a sophomore in high school and she is a part of the varsity drill team. With dance, school, and a personal life Laila still manages to achieve every charge that comes her way.
“Being in dance is so mentally and physically challenging that it affects me in both negative and positive ways,” Laila said, “You have to put in a lot of work in order to be in dance.”
Being a part of the drill team requires a lot of your time and energy. Laila has practice three to four times a week, plus a performance at the end of every week. This causes Laila to have less of her own personal time along with being drained towards the weekend.
“Balancing dance is stressful because some days we have practice before and after school and that pushes me to exhaustion,” Laila said.
Dance can be so energy-consuming that it can take away from Laila’s learning ability.
“Sometimes in school I’m worn out from dancing and this causes me to not finish my work in class so I’ll take it home and complete it for homework,” she says.
Dance doesn’t only consume her energy at school, but outside of school as well. Because Laila only gets four to five hours of sleep on game nights, this usually takes away energy from Laila’s social battery.
“Dance affects me being able to be with my family and friends because when I do have free time, I feel too tired to hang out and socialize with them,” Laila said.
Laila consistently puts 100% of her energy into dance that sometimes this can distract herfrom the daily necessities her body needs to function.
Laila says, “A struggle I deal with because of dance is forgetting to eat because of how occupied I get at times.”
Even though being a part of the drill team can affect Laila in a lot of negative ways, the positive effects have a stronger hold on her.
“Dance has helped me socialize and make friends I thought I’d never make,” Laila says.
Having a spot on the drill team gives Laila experiences she wouldn’t be able to participate in if she wasn’t a Gold duster.
“Being a part of the team makes me feel special and excited because it comes with experiences I never got to participate in,” Laila said.
Having a place on the team comes with many advantages for laila.
“I love being a part of the team because we all go through the same challenges together and that brings us closer,” she said.
Though dance impacts Laila mentally, physically, and academically, she still has control over any obstacles that step in front of her.
Laila learning how to manage the positive and negative effects that dance passes on gives her a prepared mind and more confidence for the future.
