Senior Spotlight: Melissa Pathil
9 Years Dancing at Sharon’s Studio of Dance & Music
$270 Scholarship
The nine-year-old me that started dancing at Sharon’s in 2011 was super shy and super scrawny, to the point where my body weight was like 99% bone. Now scientifically, that’s impossible; obviously, I’m exaggerating. But I would’ve likely stayed that super shy and super scrawny girl had my teachers not taken a chance on me in 2015, had they not recommended me for Sharon's competition team.
Because that’s when my journey really began, when I entered the wonderfully frenetic world of
competitive dance. It’s when I started seriously training under Miss Vicky, Miss Corrine, Miss Kari, and Miss Amanda, my amazing teachers who challenge me and encourage me to keep challenging myself, who taught me how to improve my technique, how to perform, how to grow stronger, and how to just let go and dance (which I’m still working on, but thanks Miss Vicky!). It’s when I met my incredible teammates, some of the craziest, funniest, most talented individuals I’ll ever have the pleasure of knowing and working with, a group of girls who’ll probably figure out how to take over the world via TikTok. And it’s when I learned to actively lead by example as a student teacher to our mini competition team, to hopefully instill in my sassy little firecrackers the values and standards I now hold myself to.
I’ve spent nine years at Sharon’s, four as a recreational dancer, five as a competitive one. Looking back on those years, I think of all the hard work accomplished, the floor burns and blisters, the quivering muscles and labored breaths, the moments of vulnerability on stage and borderline hysterical laughter afterwards. Who could forget all the laps around the parking lot with weights strapped to our ankles, that adrenaline rush right after a difficult lift finally goes right, and those screaming cheers when the team wins big? Of course, I’ll miss it all.
It’s been a privilege and a blessing to spend so many years with the teachers and teammates that I have at Sharon’s. I look forward to continuing my academic education at Stevens Institute of Technology as a Chemical Biology major, but I’ll always cherish being a part of such a close-knit family at Sharon’s, a community that shaped that shy and scrawny nine-year-old kid into the person I am today.
Melissa will be receiving a $270 scholarship from Sharon's Studio of Dance & Music
Congratulations, Melissa! We are so proud of you and will miss you very much.
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