When I was around four or five years old, I was obsessed with ballet. Angelina Ballerina was my all time favorite show/book series, most nights I would end up dancing around my mom in the kitchen while she was preparing dinner, and I would religiously practice positions one through five on the weekends when I had nothing better to do. It eventually got to the point where my mom had enough and signed me up for beginner’s ballet lessons. 

I didn’t stick with ballet for various reasons, but to this day I’ve noticed a few things about my body that most definitely are a result from my ballet obsession. I’ve noticed that I’m more flexible than my peers, I have a better sense of balance than my friends, I keep a fairly good posture when I’m not thinking about it, and – most noticeably – I stand at a relaxed position two when speaking to people – my legs out wide with my feet pointed outward, instead of (what I’ve been told is) standing normally with of my legs parallel to my shoulders, and my feet pointing forwards. In fact my standing position is apparently so noticeable to the point where I’ve been called out about it, and my friends have made lighthearted jokes about how I stand. 

There are a lot more effects that ballet can have on the physical body. All things considered I seem to have gotten out lucky, but that fact that an extracurricular I decided to take on when I was five has noticeable physical effects on my body almost two decades on since I “professionally” danced, is at the very least notable in what it says about the body and how it is used. 

More recently in my life: I became elected, performed the duties of, and subsequently passed on the torch of the presidency of the A Capella group I’ve been a part of while I’ve been studying at UMBC. That entire year was extremely stressful, in no small part thanks to working on my capstone project during the second semester. As an anthropology major, it was my job to perform an ethnographic research study on a group I found interesting. After getting unanimous support from both my professor and the group itself, I was able to study my A Capella group. While I was originally unsure of what to focus my study on, I soon started noticing the emotional and unpaid labor that everyone – not just the group leaders – performed in order to keep the group functional and thriving.

 While I am no longer the president of the A Capella group, echoes of my presidency still linger on, despite my want to “retire” and enjoy the group as if I were a normal member, emotionally I’m still in “president mode”. People still come up to me asking for advice regarding the group, and I have a hard time not interjecting with my opinion when the leaders of the group are having trouble. In a way it reminds me of how ballet affects the way I stand, and I wonder if I’ll ever be able to break out of “president mode” when interacting with the group in the future.