Writing 101

Here is another! 

Prompt: Write about a Real Life Conversation that Affected You.

The first thing that popped into my head for this prompt was to write about a small conversation that I was listening to after school one day. First, a little background information about myself: I am shy. Well, okay, I am an extrovert when comfortable and an extrovert to myself when not. I have never really gotten into expressing my opinions while in unfamiliar territory, and this situation did not disprove that. Anyways, there was this extremely attractive tenth grader who was just about the hottest, smartest, most popular kid in school, or at least he appeared to be to my ninth-grade self (which was only a year ago). So he was in a discussion with my homeroom teacher and I walked in to drop off some papers when I heard that they were talking about Dance Body, which is my high school’s dance class. I had been a part of that class during this conversation so I lingered a while to see what he was saying. To my surprise the kid was totally ratting on the class, as well as the girls in it, all in an effort to prove that the money for the arts programs should be re-invested in the Jazz and Theater programs. Now, I am not going against Jazz or the Theater at all, but it caught me off guard to hear this boy (who seemingly thought that he was “all that” because he had been in multiple plays and had seemed to endorse the arts programs whole-heartedly) in the act of disproving the class that he appeared to appreciate.

            After about ten more minutes of his incessant speeches on how “Dance Body only has popular girls” and “It is not nearly as good, or as appreciated, by the school and the community. By this point I was very ready to say that the girls in said class are indeed popular, but that doesn’t mean they should be punished. And that is would be a lot more popular if there would be money in the budget that was not already being forwarded to Theater and Jazz. Now, personally I hated Dance Body. It wasn’t fun for me, the teacher was rude, and the environment was not as accepting as advertised. The thing that really got me though was that this tenth grade, know-it-all boy, didn’t respect that dance meant something to these girls. For some it was their salvation, a place where they could express their emotions during tough times in their lives or just have some fun. Dance Body was made for the girls who couldn’t dance anywhere else. Yes, it was not the most welcoming program, but for many just being able to dance was something that they, including myself, really loved.

            In the end I just sat there, staying quiet and wanting to blurt out all that I was thinking, but not having the courage to do so. I have never forgotten that conversation, not because of the boy or Dance Body or my teacher, but because I had a really strong opinion towards what he was saying and I still didn’t speak up. Even when I was so sure of myself I still didn’t do it. That was the moment when I realized that I continuously get in my own path when I am doing something productive. It’s a habit that I am trying to break and is a large reason for why I am blogging. I want to be comfortable out of my comfort zone, and so far it has helped.

*Side Note: One year later the same boy praised Dance Body for all it had done for the school and the girls AFTER they invited him to read his poems at their fall performance. Just if any of you were wondering about what happened to the boy.