Describe the world you come from — for example, your family, community or school — and tell us how your world has shaped your dreams and aspirations.
New Jersey, San Diego, Los Angeles, Virginia, Japan, and then back to San Diego. I have been all around the world thanks to my dad’s overly demanding job. The Navy never knew where they wanted us to finally “settle down”. However, by living around the world I found a universal constant: music.
No matter where I was, music was always there, never changing but always different.
From the sweet dulcet tones of the Virginian banjo to the electronic beats of Japanese DJs, I have always loved music. Despite this, I was never able to express my passion for music until I discovered breakdancing. Actually, it discovered me. The never ending spinning with perfect balance, the swift steps of a certain style; the way that these dancers seemed to defy gravity utterly captivated me. They were not bound by anything; they defied the laws of physics and seemed to be free from feeling pain. They manipulated their limber bodies on the smooth tiles of the mall floor and danced with the reflections on the glossy windows of the department stores – this was their dance studio. After standing there for hours, I knew that I wanted to become a part of this. Initially, I took up a very scholarly approach, researching what hip hop was, where it came from and how to live it even before trying to breakdance. However, after weeks of futile research, I realized that hip hop isn’t something you can study, it’s something you do. There was no school for breakdancing, no howto manuals, just watching and imitating. From there I learned what breakdancing truly was, a lifestyle. It was a way to express oneself in a manner that no one else could copy, because copying, or “biting” was shameful in the breakdancing world.
Breakdancing taught me about life more than I could have imagined. It taught me to persevere, to be spontaneous, resourceful as well as adapt to ever changing situations. Most importantly, it showed me that I should always be myself. No matter what I aspire to become, a doctor, a lawyer, a politician, breakdancing has shown me that whatever the situation, to just go with the music, to hit every beat like you know the song by heart, and to walk with an air of confidence like you meant to do everything on purpose.