Serina opened her eyes with a start as the ear piercing sound of the alarm clock threatened to burst her eardrums. Desperate to make it stop, she clamped both hands around the rectangle trying to find the off button. She pressed the button and the room became so quiet she could hear her ears ring. She grudgingly got out of bed and stumbled into the bathroom. She stood in front of the mirror and looked at her tired ice blue eyes. She smiled slightly as she remembered her mom telling her that having ice blue eyes is a sign of a great destiny, but that was just an old wives' tale. The alarm clock had woken her from one of the best dreams she had ever had. In her dream, she was on a stage with bright lights shining in her eyes so that she could not see the audience. Serina was dressed in a large pink tutu with a matching leotard and tights under it. On her feet, she wore pearl white ballet shoes with ribbon laces that laced up to her knee. The high bun on her head kept her centered as she spun around and leaped into the air. She felt beautiful and graceful, but most importantly, she felt alive.
Dancing brought her so much joy, but having a dream like this brought a cloud of gray into her mind. Serina knew she could not continue to dance after she graduated in three days. She wouldn’t be allowed to do much of anything. After she graduated, she would be told the career that her parents had chosen for her to pursue. Twenty years ago, the government decided that teenagers do not get to decide on their own career. The process of teenagers trying to figure out what they want to do with their lives and what career path they want to take stressed them out and a lot of them didn’t even try to get a job. Those who did get a job would end up changing it three to four times and still not be happy with their choice. The government was worried because these people were the future and they couldn’t get their lives on track. So, as a result, the government signed a bill that said the teenager’s parents decide what their career will be for the rest of their life when the child turns fifteen. To make sure they never switched jobs, they would get tattoos that represent their career. The tattoos appear when you stand in the center of the stage on the day of graduation. This way was more efficient because who knows the teenager better than their own parents? Most of the time this was true. The parents would pick the perfect career for their child, and they would live their life with a fantastic job. On occasion, there are some parents that want their child to be a successful doctor or lawyer even though they know they aren’t qualified or don't desire that job.
Then there is Serina’s situation. Her parents want her to be an artist because she is an exquisite artist and she enjoys it. They know that well suited careers are numbered when it comes to Serina because she doesn’t like to do serious work. She has a free spirit and you cannot keep her chained to a desk. Her problem is that she will only be happy if she can express her free spirit, which she can only do through dance. Her parents would happily choose dance as her career, but that is not a career option. The government does not see a need for dancers and sees dancing as an activity for children and parties. “If only they could see how much it means to me, maybe they would make it a career,” Serina thought to herself. “ Do they not see the joy it brings to children? and do they not wonder why parties are so fun? How can they not understand how important this is to me!? How could they be so cruel as to take my one true joy away from me!? How could-” Serina took a deep breath to calm herself. “Don’t go on another one of your rants,” She said to herself.
She then remembered that she was supposed to be getting ready for school. She checked her clock let out a small yelp as she read 7:45. She only had five minutes to get ready because she lived ten minutes away from school. Serina quickly brushed her long, black, waist length hair that curls slightly at the ends. She pulled the mass of hair back into a ponytail and quickly brushed her teeth. She grabbed a sparkly, aqua blue t-shirt and threw it on with a pair of jeans. Running downstairs, she grabbed her backpack and threw on silver sandals. She ran outside to catch the super bus that glides over traffic. Once she was on the bus, she sat back and enjoyed the extra time to sleep.

* * * *

Serina sat quietly at the dinner table. “How was school?” her mother asked casually.

“It was the same as any other school day, except the teachers have sorta stopped teaching since its only three days until graduation,” Serina said in reply.

“So what’s the point of going to school if they aren’t going to teach you anything?” her dad asked.

“Exactly,” said Serina. “But I treasure these last few days because at least I’m still allowed to dance.”
“You know that your father and I wish we could choose for you to be a dancer but the government said that it’s not an option. I promise you that you will love being an artist.”
“I hope so.”


* * * *


The next day Serina walked with her friend Emirra through the school hallway. Emirra could tell that Serina was thinking about graduation by the worried expression on her face.

“Serina, you shouldn’t worry about this so much. I mean, you like to do art so why do you not want to be an artist?’”

“I do like art, but dancing is my passion. It’s a part of me! I feel truly alive when I dance,” said Serina, her eyes growing wide with excitement.

“So what are you going to do about it? I know you, and you never just sit there and let whatever happens happen,” Emirra asked, determined to get an answer.

“I don’t know. Everyone I talk to about it just says ‘the government said its not an option’ and that supposed to be a good enough reason for me to give up on my dreams,” she says angrily but then calms herself. “I’m starting to think that theres no way out of it this time. I’m going to have to be an artist. I guess I’ll learn to love it and in time, maybe I’ll forget about my dream.” Serina looked at the floor in defeat.

“No. You can’t give up on your dream. Not now. You have come so far to let your calling slip through your figures like this! Don’t give up when you think you should, but try harder when others think you shouldn’t,” Emirra said while looking Serina in the eyes to let her know how serious she was.
Serina smiled and said, “Wow. Can’t get more philosophical than that.”
“Thanks. I guess thats why I want to be a philosopher,” said Emirra, returning Serina’s grin.

* * * *


Today was the day. After today, Serina will either find a way to become a dancer or except her parents decision of becoming an artist. She took extra care in getting ready this morning. She put on the mandatory white dress with white shoes. She decided to wear her hair down and curl the ends. Her dress made her look like a dainty flower, and she hoped she didn’t look like a little girl. Walking to the mirror, she looked at her eyes once more thinking, “My great destiny is being a dancer.” She walked downstairs only to have her mom and dad stop her to say how grown up she looked and talk about when she was a baby. Once they were done with their stories, Serina hurried off to catch the super bus. She sat next to Emirra who has been saving her seat. They didn’t have to talk to know what each other are thinking. They smiled and laughed, relieved to know that neither one of them had any doubt that their futures were promising one.

They all filed into the chairs set up in rows of seven. Serina was in front of Emirra, and she turned around one last time to give her a thumbs up. They are all hushed as the ceremony began, and the principal started his speech about the promising futures of all the students graduating in the class of 2033. After the principle finished, it was time for them to start calling names. The first person was called and Serina started thinking of what to say. Should she refuse to go up? No she would just get in trouble. She should go up and speak her mind.
Before she knew it, they called her name and she slowly walked up the stairs to the stage. She saw the center of the stage, and she started to panic. She slowed her pace to barely moving her feet and heard people telling her in angry whispers to walk faster. She slowly reached the center of the stage and turned toward the crowd.
“Serina Herring” she heard her principal say, “Your career is an artist.” As if in response to his voice she could feel the tattoo start to etch into her skin. She panicked and yelled, “STOP!” all of a sudden, everyone who wasn’t looking at her stared at her and she started to turn red under their glares.
“I don’t want to be an artist, and I know I don’t get to choose my career but I think its unfair to make someone be something they don’t want to be. My passion is dancing. Its a part of my soul that I will never give up. I know it’s not an option to be a dancer, but it’s my dream. If I was a dancer, I would never change my career because I know what I want and it's always been to be a dancer. So I’m choosing my career today, and I think everyone else should be able to also. So what if teenagers don’t know what they want to do immediately after graduation. Thats the point of being a teenager. It’s for making mistakes and finding your way through those mistakes.”
As she finished her speech, she felt the tattoos spread more until they were completed. She heard everyone take a sudden breath all at once while staring at her. She looked at her tattoos but they were like nothing she had ever seen before. Instead of brushlike lines to symbolize an artist career, the tattoo had transformed into a pattern of swirls and curved lines that symbolized motions or foot work. Serina looked up at her principal who stared back in awe. She looked back at her arm and whispered “The tattoo of a dancer.”