Ms. Deena 

Trying new things—it’s not easy. I never felt like I was good at sports and thought there were no options. At school they offer soccer, basketball and tennis. Those were not of any interest to me. When I was six I danced, but I never thought there was more to it than what I learned then. After talking with one of my friends, I thought I would give it another try. Walking through the front doors of Accent On Dance into my first class in studio six, I was nervous. 

Throughout my first year of dance, there were times I was embarrassed and thought I would never be like the older girls. Ms. Deena never gave up and kept pushing me to learn more. After a while, I took in the positive feedback she gave me. I gained self-confidence even though I was new. After my first recital, Ms. Deena talked to my mom and told her how proud she was of me and how much I had grown. I still remember standing between them, feeling proud of myself.   

July, 2015: I decided to audition to be on a competing team. I was terrified walking into a studio with senior girls that had been dancing their whole lives. Walking out of auditions, I saw Ms. Deena and she told me she was so proud and excited I pushed myself to take on the next step. The support that she gave me impacted my confidence immensely. I had a supporter that believed in me, someone who thought I could do it, when I didn't think I could. 

My second year, I was in a Hollywood Connection convention class in St. Louis taking a class from Mitchel Federan. I was going over a step over and over again and it just did not feel right, I heard her whisper from my left saying, “That looks good, Haylee!” This seems so small, but it kept me going and made me learn that sometimes, it will not feel right but new things don't always feel right. This has also helped me in other classes, by teaching me that It's okay to go out of my comfort zone. 

Assistant teaching with Ms. Deena was eye-opening, standing in front of the class where I started. I watched them learn and find confidence in what they were doing. It was like watching myself. All I wanted for them was to see the same things that I saw in dance and use it as an escape and a way to share without speaking. I got to watch Ms. Deena guide them as she did to me. 

Ms. Deena is a strong, impactful, and dedicated person who is open with her ideas. To this day, I know I will always have Ms. Deena there for me. I don't think that people thank her enough for the time, patience, and hard work that she puts into her job. I want to thank Ms. Deena, for being the one who has made an effort to reach out and continue to support me over the past 5 years.