Well, we came up to visit the Purchase campus first, and that was it—love at first sight.

My Mom liked it because she thought I’d pay more attention to my work here than in a big, urban school. And, I liked it so much that I decided not even to interview at Juilliard until I knew whether I got into Purchase or not.

MOVE THE FEET…LOSE THE FAT

Some things don’t come very easy to me, like flexibility and the feet. I know I just have to keep working at them. Also, when I was in high school, I had the “fat gene”— I was really heavy when I started college. I’ve had to work hard at the body, too, and I’ve gotten my weight way down.

The truth is, I think my high school dance teacher might have been trying some reverse psychology on me. She sort of hinted that she thought I wouldn’t be able to make it as a dancer. But you know, I’m the only one left from my high school who’s still in dance. I want to go back and say to all the young kids, “See, if I can do it, you can, too.”

GETTING REAL

I’m so excited about my Senior Project. It’s a piece called “Rather…Subkonchus,” and it’s in three sections and uses 15 dancers. The idea is that we all put up this outer shield. I wanted to go into people’s inner thoughts and show how we all make up something that isn’t real just to get by.

I’ve been working on it since the second semester of my junior year, getting the choreography, costumes, music and the dancers all ready so I could concentrate on rehearsals. Working with freshmen dancers can sometimes be…well, you know. I just try to keep calm.

GETTING IT

I don’t know about a “message.”  When I dance, I know that not everybody will get it, whatever “it” is. But even if they don’t, I still want them to go away thinking, “That was a really nice piece.”

GETTING THERE

I don’t think I’d be where I am now if I’d gone to Juilliard. It’s not that there’s no social life at Purchase—far from it—but the city would just have pulled me away too much from my focus.

This summer I danced with the Northwest Professional Dance Project in Portland, Oregon. It was the first time that I felt whole as a dancer. Also, I’ve been talking to the junior company at Alvin Ailey. I’ve taken some classes there, too, and I really want to join that company when I graduate. It’s a hard, hard, hard career, but I think I can make it.

YOU ARE…YOUR CHOICE

I’m especially close to Stephanie Tooman, a dance professor here, but I’ve taken classes with every single dance teacher at Purchase, and every one has been just great. I’ve gained something from working with every one of them.

Purchase is the kind of place where you find your own voice. This school gives you so many choices, and then it allows you to make them. That’s not always easy, but at Purchase you find the person you are. I really believe that.

I know it sounds so clichéd, but you can achieve your dreams here when you remember that your goal is stronger than your struggle.