How did you get started doing the trapeze?
It was an after-school activity and I started at that school in fourth grade. I didn’t really have any friends, so my mom wanted me to get involved in an activity to make friends. Even though I was afraid of heights, I decided aerial dance was a better option.
What do you enjoy most about it?
When I’m up there, I feel like I can do anything, like just having the strength to hold yourself up, like getting past that first stage where you can’t do anything. Just feeling strong and totally in control of every movement is amazing.
Do you want to pursue the trapeze?
I would love to but it’s pretty taxing and some of the people that I know, they have hip replacements at 25. I don’t want that to happen and I already have two bad shoulders so I would not last very long. I think I’m going to be a software engineer and teach aerial dance and perform on the side.
Who inspires you the most?
One of my teachers is just amazing. Her name is Paulina and she just tries everything. She just is so strong. She doesn’t fear falling because she can just pull herself up. Being able to do that would be amazing.
What are your plans for college next year?
Currently my best option is OSU. I just interviewed for a couple internships there that would basically allow me to get a job right out of college doing computer programing. Dream school would be MIT. I haven’t found out about that yet.
What would be your ideal career?
Perfect world will be aerial dance where I didn’t get injured all the time. In the real world, it is software engineering and I really like it because it’s problem-solving and it’s still creative. There’s lots of ways to solve every problem.
What does it feel like to perform in front of a sold-out audience?
It can be really stressful. Before the start of the show of the very first one I was so nervous. You can just feel the excitement of the people watching. It’s totally infectious. There’s something about portraying emotion without saying anything, but you can show it without using any words. I feel like it’s the best way to tell truth. You don’t have to use words to say the most important things.
Do you remember the first time you got on a trapeze?
I dislocated my wrist. I wasn’t actually doing trapeze. We were climbing a rope and all we did was just climb up to the hand loop and stick our hand in the loop and hold on. I didn’t realize that you actually had to keep your wrist engaged so it didn’t pop out, so I was hanging all my weight on my wrist and my wrist popped. That didn’t really help my fear of heights at all. Then I had to do it better. Failing makes me more determined to do it right the next time.
