Well, there is one week left until we leave for Nationals. I’m not sure how we’ll feel then, but just thinking about it makes me completely scared and yet totally confident all at the same time. The team is just as nervous as I am, but we’re all so excited. Last week dance team talked about our placement in the lineup at the competition- we’re going 10th out of 18 teams. We feel like we have a great spot- we get to watch cheer in the morning and we’re right in the middle of the competition. We’re ready to show the judges that we have been waiting for them and that we were well worth the wait!Everyone on this team has worked so hard to get to this point. This is where the 7 am practices will pay off, where dancing six hours a day through countless injuries, frustrations, and set-backs will only make us stronger, where everything that we’ve hoped for and worked towards is culminating. This close, it’s easy to see why we aren’t allowed to eat that donut (which I still want), why we go to the gym at ridiculous hours (even when it was closed), and why we spend Friday and Saturday nights in bed at 10 pm (when our friends and roommates don’t really understand).
I’m pretty sure the next week will go by very quickly. We all have a full course-load, part-time jobs, and lives that have to essentially be put on hold when we leave next week. I know I personally have one week to make up coursework for 18 credits worth of classes, re-schedule 5 students that I tutor twice a week, write substitute lesson plans at my part-time job, and of course practice, practice, practice! Everyone on the team has a similar story to this and I’m sure the next week will fly by because of it. We’re more than ready to get there- it will be a relief at this point to be able to focus 150% of our energy 24 hours a day on dancing this one routine, perfectly, one time. At this point, the competition is first and foremost on everyone’s mind.
Trust me, we’re pretty consumed by dance right now. Walking up the hill to school from my apartment I listen to our Nationals music, during breathing exercises in accounting I run the routine through my head, every chance I get in the gym I make sure that toe touch is just right or that arm placement is perfect. Before I go to bed at night
I visualize myself and my team doing the routine, perfectly, flawlessly, one time. I find myself talking about little else in class, at work, and with my friends. This is how we’ve all been thinking; proving that we’re nervous but more than ready.It’s been a little frustrating lately because everyone has their own injuries that we’ve been working against. We’ve had to put a lot more work into our bodies and make them do a lot more than they want to! I have a partially torn ligament in my right knee, and many of the other girls have chronic hip and knee problems that they are working with. The best thing we can remember is not to get frustrated or upset with each other, or ourselves, and to remember that we are a team through and through. How we react to our injuries or frustrations impacts everyone, and team morale is SO important to us. We’re working hard and we all know we can do it!
NDA Watch Out- American University Spirit is Coming!!
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