I woke up to a heartbeat going 100 miles per hour. Shaking. Sweating. Nonstop worrying. Today was the day that mattered the most out of the whole season. State. I woke up feeling light headed due to not sleeping that night. I knew that today was going to be nothing but pressure and anxiety. Our coach always wants us to do and be perfect, but with that comes an endless amount of nerves. As i'm finally getting out of the freezing hotel bed, I look to my phone and see 5:00 a.m. I make my way to the bathroom to put my contacts in and brush my teeth like I would normally do, but today, it felt completely different. I felt like with everything I did, was followed with worry and overthinking. As a team, we made our way to the lobby of the hotel to eat breakfast, but of course no one could eat due to the awful feeling in our stomachs. After sitting there staring at the minimal food on our plates, we all got rid of it and went back to our rooms in silence to start getting everything we needed for the big day ahead of us. After changing into our matching warm up outfits and grabbing our costumes and everything we needed, we took off making our way to the busses, trudging through the freezing snow. The bus ride there was once again completely silent, as everyone had their ear buds in, listening to music trying to calm down, and get ready for the long day. Once we arrived and walked in, the pressure hit us all so much harder than before, realizing that was it and everything we have worked for had lead up to that moment. We all skimmed the room looking at our competition, who appeared to be staring right back at us, because to them, we were the threat. In 2016, it was the first time Franklin has won 1st in not only Pom but also Jazz. That was the biggest moment of our lives and never thought we would be able to do that again because that simply never happens. So to everyone in the competition, we were the ones they were trying to beat and steal our title, but we just weren’t ready to give that up, and knew that we had to give all we had to make sure that everyone knew it was ours to keep. Making our way into the dressing room, we got all the stares. Including younger teams that would look up to us and smile, and teams in our division that were threatened by us giving us the dirtiest looks. We continued to walk through the room with our chests up, and full of confidence, even though deep down we were all terrified. As the long day went on, patiently yet anxiously waiting for us to finally dance, we were all ready and starting to stretch. While we were stretching, our coach talked to us about how perfect we needed to be and how we needed to work as a team to make sure we could do the best we could which was very nerve wracking to hear because we knew if it wasn’t absolutely perfect, we’d get in a lot of trouble, and we wouldn’t have a chance at winning again. With all of these thought floating throughout my mind, they call our name to start heading backstage. My heart is thumping so loudly in my chest, while i’m trying to remember the choreography but get so nervous I start to forget, which worries me even more. At this part of the day, every little thing will get you nervous and make you freak out over everything which isn’t necessarily the best. We walk backstage together in complete silence once again, staying close to each other to make sure we all know we are in this together. Feeling connected with your team is one of the best feelings ever, which makes us all feel a little better, letting everyone know that we are all here for each other. We spend our final couple minutes together standing around trying to calm down before we go out there for the last time together as a full team. The dance before ours ends, and I can still hear my heart thumping over the crazy cheers. The time has finally come. Everything we have been working for. A couple moments pass by which feels like years, until they finally announce Franklin. The crowd cheers and screams like I have never heard before. We all look at each other one last time before taking the floor. We walk out with our chests high and smiles across our faces, trying to look as confident as we can. We take the floor as the crowd is still cheering, filling the entire room. Once the music starts, my heart drops. All i’m thinking to myself is that I have to do perfect and I can’t forget the dance and so many things that make my mind race. Once the dance is finally over, the entire place erupts with cheering and screaming making us all feel so good. We had a feeling that we did it, but couldn’t be too confident yet. The rest of teams perform and we are still full of nerves. It’s finally time for awards. We run out onto the floor in the same spot that Franklin Dance goes everyone. Front and center right by the trophy case. They go through all of the divisions which feels like hours, until they finally get to Division 1. We are all sitting in a circle holding hands waiting for them to announce Jazz and Pom. Once they finally get to those categories, all of our hearts beat crazy fast and we all feel like we are going to pass out. They get to third. We weren’t called yet. They get to second. We weren’t called yet. At first we thought that we didn’t place because we were in such disbelief that we would have won both categories again. That never happens. But when they finally called our names for first, it was the most insane feeling I have ever felt. We all jump up and start crying instantly, our coach then passes out. Everyone was in such shock that we did it. We run onto the stage and get our medals and start taking team pictures with our trophies. All I can remember from that moment was the crowd screaming, all of us crying, our coach fainting, and my heart racing. Thinking about this day, my heart seemed to be racing and thumping the whole time, which pretty much summed up the day. This was such an unforgettable time of my life that left a huge impact on me that hard work and dedication always pays off, and to never give up.