His Dream: To Be a Dancer

    My alarm goes off at 5 in the morning. The sky is still dark. I scramble to shower, get dressed, and make eggs. Then I climb into the car with my mom or dad—and my long journey begins.

    We drive from our farm in Wisconsin over the Illinois border. After 45 minutes, we arrive at the train. I climb aboard, sit down, and close my eyes to catch up on sleep. 

    An hour and 50 minutes later, the train reaches Chicago. That’s where I get off and wait for my school bus. 

    Yes, that’s right. I make this journey every day—just to go to school.

    But it isn’t just any school. The Chicago Academy for the Arts is a special school for the arts, like dancing, singing, and painting. It’s where I get to work on my biggest passion: ballet.

    My alarm goes off at 5 in the morning. The sky is still dark. I shower, get dressed, and make eggs. Then I get into the car with my mom or dad, and my long trip begins.

    We drive from our farm in Wisconsin over the Illinois border. After 45 minutes, we arrive at the train. I climb aboard, sit down, and close my eyes to catch up on sleep.

    An hour and a half later, the train reaches Chicago. That’s where I get off and wait for my school bus.

    Yes, that’s right. I make this trip every day, just to go to school.

    But it isn’t just any school. It’s the Chicago Academy for the Arts. It’s a special school for the arts, like dancing, singing, and painting. It’s where I work on my biggest passion: ballet.

    My alarm goes off at 5 a.m., while the sky is still dark. I scramble to shower, get dressed, and make eggs. Then I climb into the car with my mom or dad—and my long journey begins.

    We drive from our farm in Wisconsin over the Illinois border. After 45 minutes, we arrive at the train. I climb aboard, sit down, and close my eyes to catch up on sleep.

    An hour and a half later, the train reaches downtown Chicago. That’s where I get off and wait for my school bus.

    Yes, that’s right: I make this journey every day, just to go to school.

    But it isn’t just any school. The Chicago Academy for the Arts is a special school for the arts, like dancing, singing, and painting. It’s where I get to work on my greatest passion: ballet.

    Eighth grade was a really hard year because of the bullying. But it’s also when I heard about the Chicago Academy for the Arts. I told my dad that I wanted to apply, and he was so encouraging. He said, “OK, let’s figure out how we can make this happen.”

    I had to take several tests to apply to the school. I was tested in school subjects and also in dance. For one of the tests, I had to take a really hard class taught by one of the school’s dance teachers. I was so intimidated! Everyone there was an amazing dancer. 

    But in February of eighth grade, I got the most exciting letter of my life. It said I was accepted to the school! I started that fall and have never looked back.

    At my school, we do academic classes until 1:30 p.m. Dance comes next, until about 6 o’clock. Those classes can be grueling. Ballet is all about making sure our movements are exactly right. That means we have to practice the same thing over and over again. 

    I’m always exhausted by the time I start my commute home. As the sun sets outside the train, I do my homework or daydream. I look forward to getting back to the farm to see the stars. The night sky doesn’t look the same in Chicago!

    Eighth grade was a hard year because of the bullying. But it’s also when I heard about the Chicago Academy for the Arts. I told my dad that I wanted to apply. He was supportive. He said, “OK, let’s figure out how we can make this happen.”

    I had to take several tests to apply to the school. I was tested in school subjects and in dance. For one test, I had to take a really hard class taught by one of the school’s dance teachers. I was so intimidated! Everyone there was a great dancer.

    But in February of eighth grade, I got the most exciting letter of my life. It said I was accepted to the school! I started that fall.

    At my school, we do academic classes until 1:30 p.m. Dance comes next, until about 6 o’clock. Those classes can be grueling. Ballet is all about making sure our movements are exactly right. That means we have to practice the same thing over and over.

    I’m always tired by the time I start my commute home. As the sun sets outside the train, I do my homework or daydream. I look forward to getting back to the farm to see the stars. The night sky doesn’t look the same in Chicago!

    Eighth grade was a really difficult year for me because of the bullying—but it’s also when I learned about the Chicago Academy for the Arts. I told my dad that I was interested in applying, and his response was encouraging: He said, “OK, let’s figure out how we can make this happen.”

    Applying to the school involved taking several tests, both in school subjects and in dance. For one of the tests, I had to take an extremely challenging class taught by one of the school’s dance instructors. I was incredibly intimidated when I saw how skilled the other students were.

    But in February of eighth grade, I received the most exciting letter of my life: It said I was accepted to the Academy! I started that fall, and I have no regrets.

    At my school, we attend academic classes until 1:30 p.m., followed by dance until about 6 o’clock. The dance classes can be grueling. Ballet is all about making sure our movements are precise and perfect, which means we have to practice the same thing over and over again.

    I’m always exhausted by the time I start my commute home. As the sun sets outside the train, I do my homework or daydream. I look forward to getting back to the farm to see the stars. The night sky doesn’t look the same in Chicago!