written by Emily Crumpton, Participant from USA

A few months ago my school’s (University of Batangas) dance team asked me to partake in a certain competition that was coming up. It’s a big competition where dance troupes from all of the other schools in my city compete against each other for the grand championship.

We practiced almost everyday for an entire month during school, after school, etc. Because this was such a big deal to my fellow dancers and I. In the midst of all the chaos a few of us, myself included, were tempted to drop it and leave the team. This was due to the long strenuous practices: early mornings, and super late nights however, we persisted. I know during this time I pushed myself more than I ever had and my hard work really paid off.

Once the competition came everyone was a bag of nerves. This was due to the fact that my school had won it previously so we had to defend our title. That day everyone was hungry for victory! We went out and executed our dance number perfectly. The results were in and the University of Batangas Brahmans had in fact defended their title. Celebrating with the team afterwards really made me appreciate all the hard work everyone put into our performance. It was an experience that I’ll never forget.