Hemphill 1
Donavan Hemphill
Prof Benson
9/26/2015
Descriptive Essay
That’s When I Realized
I was eighteen and a senior in high school. I had four classes every day that rotated
from day to day, one set of four on one day and four the next. I was in the symphonic
orchestra, the highest orchestra in the orchestra program at my school. I played the viola and
was the principal violist, making up for the lack of people usually in my section. Despite not
having perfect grades, I felt everything was too easy for me. In fact, I believed that about
everything until I finally took my first modern dance class. This experience was a great one
that definitely marked the beginning of my mental reformation.
At the time I was still an insecure and awkward teenager that people probably thought
was really quiet and didn’t want to be bothered by anyone, but the truth was that I was
surrounded by people in the school’s musical theatre and drama programs of our school,
which were both full of some extremely talented performers. This made my lips tighten, and
my knees lock up, almost paralyzing me through intimidation. When I entered the room,
everyone was already in groups conversing and showing off their natural talent at dancing,
but when we all spread out to stretch, it felt like many eyes were targeting my inflexibility so
that they could all question why the counsellor allowed me to take the class. The instructor
would make his way in between everyone as we stretched and warmed up, and nodded at
