To Travel With A Purpose by Alexandria

To Travel With A Purpose by Alexandria - July 2016 Scholarship Essay

The day was finally upon us! All eight dancers were ready and eager for our trip. In just eight or nine hours, we would have landed in LONDON: the land of culture and art and TEA!

This adolescent-like excitement bubbled up around the same time annually, because every year our dance teacher planned for our team to visit a new exciting destination. My dance teacher took our class to New York twice, to London, and to Los Angeles during my time in high school. Each time we took our five day trip, we spent the majority of our time dancing. From sun up to sun down, we rehearsed. It was like clock work.

7:00 AM: Wake.
8:00 AM: Leave hotel.
9:00 AM - 4:00 PM: Rehearse.
Sleep.
Repeat.

Although I've always loved our trips, I didn’t initially see the value in rehearsing all day on our dance trips. Weren't we supposed to be vacationing? In time, I understood. It wasn't until my senior year dance trip to L.A. that I realized the valuable lesson our teacher taught us. And that is to travel, not to escape for vacation, but to travel with a purpose. I learned that there is beauty in doing what you love in new exciting places. Teaming up with people from other places who love to do what you do can not only breed friendship, but it can also refuel the love you have for whatever you do.

I distinctly remember my classmates and I feeling nervous to meet all of the “cool British dancers” in London. To our surprise, every time we spoke to the locals, they gasped in astonishment of our accents. “You’re AMERICAN?” they exclaimed. Their amazement completely befuddled us. Who were we? They were supposed to be the cool ones! There was so much beauty in the fact that we could marvel at each other’s differences while bonding over our love for dance. Beauty.

Thanks to my dance teacher, I now wish to travel to India. Not only to marvel at their beautiful landscapes and architecture, but also to study the origins of yoga. I dream of visiting Ghana, not just to witness their beautiful cities and beaches, but to lend a helping hand to their capital’s thriving hair and skin care industry. My dance teacher taught me to take advantage of opportunities like these and more.

Thanks to my dance teacher, I learned the value of immersing myself in the wonders of places unfamiliar to me. I learned to travel with a purpose; to experience the world instead of merely existing in it.