“It’s going to get harder before it gets easier, you can do it.”
When I first heard that, I didn’t know how to react, simply because I didn’t want it to be hard; I wanted it to be easy. Everything should be easy and fun and carefree. Everything. Well, it’s not. Especially when I’d been practicing and training and working everything I had, just so I can get to that one stage: World’s Dance Competition.

My coach is not only the person in charge of my team, but she’s my friend. Sheila’s not like any coach, and she’s not even like every friend; she will push me until I’m in tears, but I know that she will defend me until her face turns blue. She would never intentionally hurt anyone in the world, even the other teams at our World’s competition.
Sheila’s graceful, she’s smart, she’s the purist soul you could meet. She’s like candy; hard on the outside, soft on the inside. My team and I will cry with her, talk with her, and tell her who our favorite boys at school are. Some people say a coach shouldn’t get so involved and attached to their team, but not only are we attached, we are connected: our team is family.

Sheila’s goal is for the team to meet their goals. She will always put us first and make sure we feel proud of what we’ve done before she showcases us to the world. And when we decide it’s time, we explode.
There’s training, weight lifting, technique classes, ballet classes, progressions, and practicing the same five routines over and over until we could do it in your sleep; until it’s perfect.
“When you’re not practicing, remember, someone, somewhere is practicing. And when you meet her… she will win.” Not only does she believe in this quote to her bones, but she’s put this quote and others alike on the bathroom walls at our studio.
She just wants us to reach our dreams, and exceed them to the extreme. Dance is my life, and that life includes Sheila. She might as well be my best friend, right? Well, she is.