Finding Me Anonymous

When I look back at the videos of my so-called dance performances as a 5-year old, I feel my soul cringe. Little 5-year-old Tara had herself convinced that even Beyonce couldn’t hold a candle to her dance moves. Why did my mother allow me to make an absolute fool out of myself in front of my too-nice family? Why did they flatter me as I did the strange moves only a naive and self-assured 5-year-old can come up with? Maybe they looked past the clumsy moves to see a glimmer of something within me that I only recognized much later.

That glimmer is my passion for dance that flares every time I perform. When I stride onto the stage in front of 300 of my peers, I’m filled with nothing but elation as I resolve to conquer the stage and make it my own. The thought of being judged by others never crosses my mind; I pour my heart into each performance and am consumed by a renewed intensity each time to perform better than the last. Dance inspires a sense of freedom within me that gives me the courage to express myself without inhibitions.

Moving beyond expression through dance, I sought other ways to express myself. During my sophomore year, I started a blog to express my love for books. As the girl who navigates her way through busy...