Ballet

As you may know, I dance ballet.
I'm not that dancer who's top in every class and the teachers are lavishing praise on me; I'm rather the opposite. I have to work my hardest to get noticed at all, and usually when I do get noticed it is a small correction. But it's worth that much more. Since Friday, I have maintained a "getting noticed" streak for every class, which I am planning to keep up.
Another thing about ballet teachers - besides their immense favoritism - is that they love making connections, analogies, and inspirational speeches. Some of my favorites are:
"Ballet is hard, and then you die."
"You can't let things happen to you. You have to make things happen."
"You can't come into class saying, Oh, I'm so bad at this. I hate this step. Because that way you won't get better. You have to figure out a way to say to yourself, Oh, I guess they're kind of ok. They're pretty fun, actually. Then you will improve."
Some of the things they say are things that are worth it even outside the studio. And sometimes, when you're having a bad day, ballet will lift your spirits. The teachers love making jokes about just about anything, including mistakes that you make. They can generally get a laugh out of all of us.
Ballet is an immense commitment at this age, because you're basically on a professional track. If I was good enough, I could, from this level, continue to a life in professional dance. So it's a big commitment - but definitely worth it.
Dancers, who's with me?