Some students hang out with friends after school, read or even play video games…but not Lily Nguyen (9). Nguyen spends her afternoons at dance. Nguyen is an OHS JV Golden Girl and a competitive dancer for DeNoyer Dance. Some say it’s a passion, but she says “It’s a lifestyle.”
Nguyen’s strong passion for dance was influenced by her sister.
“My sister got me into dancing. When she was younger, she seemed like she really enjoyed it, and I felt that I would enjoy it as well,” Nguyen said.
Nguyen feels that if it wasn’t for her sister, she wouldn’t have been dancing for the last 11-12 years and wouldn’t be where she is with dance today. With her years of experience, she attained her highest award of first place for a trio during Nationals. This award was achieved with an impressive performance.
“My highest award was in competition. I got it in my trio and we placed First overall and in our age category. We won it in Myrtle Beach during Nationals, and we got it because of our high energy, sharp motions and just because it was clean in general,” Nguyen said.
From being in a dance studio and traveling all over the US to practicing in the commons and performing for the school, the transition from competition to Golden Girls is very different, but it ended up being everything Nguyen hoped it would be.
“Besides the new coach situation, it was everything I expected. It was a bit stressful at first, but I knew that going into it,” Nguyen said. “I also went into Golden Girls knowing that I love and enjoy dance and that I was gonna meet new people and make friends from different grades.”
With now constantly having dance, balancing competition and Golden Girls can be a challenge.
“Balancing Golden Girls and competition is a lot of work…You need to plan out a lot of things and a planner would come in handy for a busy schedule. I don’t have much free time because of dance. It’s quite hard and time-consuming. You have to make sure you have everything written with the right time and date, because otherwise things would get mixed up,” Nguyen said.
Even though dance is time-consuming, it doesn’t stop Nguyen’s love for it.
“I really love dancing. I think dance has built me as a person and made me who I am,” Nguyen said. “I love all the connections I’ve made through dance, and I’m happy to say that it’s led me to meeting my best friends.”
