GROWING THROUGH DANCE

By: Sella Evania Halim

Have you ever felt that something in your life made a big change in yourself and helped you to grow? If you have, maybe we can be friends because I also feel the same way. I want to share about the changes I have experienced that made me grow. Hello everyone, my name is Sella Evania Halim, but you can just call me Sella. Some people who don’t really know me call me Sheila or Stella, I hate it! I am 18 years old and now I am studying at Politeknik Tonggak Equator Pontianak. I am not the type of person who is ambitious for grades or really smart in academics when I was in school. I prefer things outside of academics, and one of them is dancing. 

The first time I fell in love with dancing was when I was in elementary school. While my classmates spent their time going to tutoring, I chose to go into my room, turn off the light, put on my earphones, play Wonder Girls songs, and dance alone like an artist performing on stage. Maybe it sounds simple or useless to other people, but through that hobby I started to grow as a person. After I found out what I really like, I joined school activities and outside communities so I could meet people who have the same hobby and also express myself more. You may be asking and also confused what kind of change that I ever felt in myself, let me tell you.

The first change is that I became a more confident person. Before, I was very shy and I didn’t dare to perform in front of many people, because I felt everyone was looking at me with strange or unfriendly eyes. After I tried one, twice, and three times, I realized it all came from my own mind. People are not that focused on us. This change is very useful for me until now, I feel more free to express myself and I don’t care too much about what people think about me. I am who I am, so do everything you want to do, don’t worry about others. It is better to try than to waste your time and chances.

The second change is having a new social network, being brave to socialize and engage in conversation. Before, I was afraid to make friends outside my own circle and engage in conversation. I thought people from outside my environment were negative, but I was completely wrong. Since I had the courage to join a community, I learned a lot about life because we all came from different backgrounds. Making friends with many people actually made me more open to life and how I see the world works. This change really helped me in socializing. Having a wide network will make it easier to get information in the future, maybe for a job, support, and anything else.

The third change is, I no longer compare myself to others. Before, I always compared myself to my classmates because they were very smart in academics, always got perfect scores, while I was just an ordinary student. But, this changed 180 degrees after I found dancing. I realized what my real potential and talent are. Achievement isn’t always about being the top student or getting 100 in exams. I proved it through many competitions that I have won. Everyone has their own talent and their own portion. We don’t always need to be the same as others. If someone is good in one field, we should not feel inferior or doubt ourselves. It is better to find our own potential and learn how to develop our talent into something that can make us grow.

Actually, there are many changes that I have ever felt, not only three. But in my opinion these three give the best influence in my self-development and life journey. Until now, I still like to dance, nothing has changed even though I am a college student and no one can change my passion. But, after my consideration for a long time, I decided to not be a part of my community again because I can’t manage my time between college, work, and practice. Even though I am not very active in dancing anymore, the effect of that change can still be felt and it really helps my life. If I had the chance to go back to the past, I would not regret my decision, because it helped me grow.