Ten years ago, my Mom enrolled me in a Musical Theater class at FSPA with Kim Rezendes. I absolutely loved it, and while I was taking ballet and jazz at a different studio, I quickly realized that FSPA was the place for me. At my first spring concert that year, I saw Electric Youth perform “Thank you for the Music”, and I knew I had to someday be in EY and wear a cool “black & white” outfit. My favorite thing about FSPA is that I do not call FSPA people “friends”; I call them “family”. Not only because I am with these same people at least sixteen hours per week, but because they are so accepting and kind. Being a member of Electric Youth has changed me in so many ways.  From Electric Youth I have learned how to manage my time well.  I have mastered the art of balancing my homework, getting good grades, and all while dancing six days a week.  A lot of people at my school are amazed when I tell them I dance six days a week.  Their immediate response is “How do you do all that and still get good grades in honors classes?”  As a member of Electric Youth, you have to know how to manage your time well.  I have also learned how to al ways be calm on stage, even when a mistake happens during a show.  Electric Youth is a group of professional performers, which is why this group is so different from many other teenage groups of performers.

  

The best part about Electric Youth for me though, was gaining 17 siblings.  I had no idea that all of us would become so close on the tour.  We aren’t 15 friends; we are 18 individual members of a family.  We all have distinct personalities, but we all get along so well.  Sometimes we may disagree, but at the end of the day, these are the people that you lean on for support, these are the people that drive you home after rehearsal ends at 11:00pm at night, these are the people who help you with your homework when you have no idea what is going on in math class.  I love all 17 members of Electric Youth and I have a special bond with each of them.

            

For the future, I would like to find a college that has a really good dance program where I can also study to become an occupational or physical therapist. My Mom is my role model. She inspires me to try my best at everything I do, especially being a good person with good moral values. Without her, I would not be able to handle both my curriculum at school and at FSPA. 

 

Going on tour with Electric Youth is literally indescribable. It is the experience of a lifetime, a whirlwind of excitement, fun and adventure. Sometimes I just could not believe what I was experiencing. I have so many amazing tour memories, but my favorite was most definitely our closing dinner ceremonies in Lake Como. Everyone had the opportunity to give a speech about what the tour meant to them, followed by fireworks and dancing with a D.J. It was a very bittersweet evening.