academic which i think is a really nice
way of saying a nerd as a serious
ballerina which is another way of saying
I’m a nerd as an older sister and an
oldest child as an avid and fast reader
again a nerd a lover of all things Harry
Potter and Marvel and fantasy aka nerd
someone interested in literature and
history and forensic science really I’m
trying to say I’m just a giant nerd but
more than anything today I speak to you
as a rebel no one laughed I’m so
surprised when I practice this with my
sister we have to stop at this point
because she was giggling hysterically
I’m gonna have to tell her she’s just
mean now in all seriousness though I’m
not the kind of person that comes to
mind when thinking of a rebel rebels are
people who wear leather jackets and ride
motorcycles wearing skin tight black
pants that are contrary to all forms of
movement who maybe smoke cigarettes and
they have a devil-may-care attitude to
everything the the Jim Starks Tyler
Durden Xand Ferris Bueller’s of the
world everybody wants to be a rebel now
something about not following the rules
and feeling like there are no
consequences for your actions sounds
very appealing but the actual definition
of a rebel is to show or feel repugnance
for or resistance to something it’s not
just being an opposition to everything
it’s fighting against a very specific
societal norm or tradition to go against
the grain I’m going to try and convince
you how I’m a rebel and hopefully show
you how you can be one too I mentioned
that I am ballerina but I couldn’t have
said this five years ago it was my
little sister who started first and I
just followed her she would be in class
being a little prima ballerina and I
would wait for her outside and people
would come up to me and say don’t you
want to try your sister so good I would
have none of it then in fourth grade I
grew seven inches almost overnight and I
became the picture of gangly awkwardness
that’s when people stopped telling me I
should dance they took one look at my
klutzy train wreck and we’re like no way
and that’s exactly when and why I
started dancing everybody was saying
it’s too late do not even bother trying
I have to admit I looked so awful that
first year it was a really
terrible idea to start at 12 in the
world of ballet that’s already over the
hill and this was reinforced every time
my mother had to look into the baby
class where both my sister and I were
and watched the way too tall way too big
hue too clueless me trying to follow
along you think I’m kidding but I’m not
this was the first hint of my rebellious
streak and probably also my stupidest
over time I did get better though I
don’t know if it was simply for hard
work or because there was nowhere to go
but up people started to approach my
parents and say that I really had a shot
at a career it was a relief to hear from
others that I was actually good at
something that I had fallen in love with
doing but I also heard another idea that
I should drop out of school the average
age of retirement for dancers is 29
years old if you make it beyond that
most ballet companies have an age group
of 45 to extend the longevity of a
career most dancers will try and get
hired when they are 16 17 or 18 years
old to accommodate that timeline many
dancers homeschool so as to take a
reduced number of classes per day about
three or four hours to double up on
dance classes I admire so much the
dedication that these dancers have to
their careers and how willing they are
to make sacrifices to have it happen I
have nothing but the utmost respect for
their path but it’s not something I
could do myself I admitted to you
earlier that I’m a nerd I truly love
school my education isn’t something that
I or my parents are willing to
compromise on the decision doesn’t seem
like much but it turned me into one of
the most unlikely of rebels I heard
everything from it’s as a shame you go
to school you’re wasting your talent too
how arrogant how selfish how
presumptuous of you to assume that you
can do something in a way that simply
just isn’t done that way who would have
known there going to school would be
such a revolutionary act I am no Malala
but a world where one makes sacrifices
for everything in the hopes of a career
my choice seen subversive at best
threatening at worst insulting the
simple act of refusing to give up either
dance or school is me being a rebel with
a cause and if I had a dime for every
time somebody told me it would be
impossible to do both I’d be able to pay
for all my pointe shoes myself then
a Sayers aren’t wrong about how
difficult this balancing act is doing
both meant burning candle at both ends
it meant adding more than 30 hours of
practice to an already busy school week
it meant that something else had to give
I’m not here to ask for sympathy when
you were a rebel people are like less
less likely to be sympathetic with you
you want a part in the show you’re going
to have to be twice as good as your
competition because they don’t want to
give it to the girl who has school you
want to be paid attention to in ballet
class you have to make sure the teacher
can’t take their eyes off you because
they don’t want to acknowledge you I can
see that it’s hard but it’s not
impossible the gatekeepers in either
world may not want to be accommodating
to this balancing act but when there’s a
will there’s a way
here’s where being a rebel becomes
important we can exert our influence to
make the changes that we want or need I
don’t think there’s a person in this
room who hasn’t faced adversity or who
hasn’t been told they couldn’t do
something the moment you do the moment
you hear those words that’s the moment
you too can become a rebel there are a
lot of things in this world that can be
changed for the better
sees these as opportunities like Kevin
Bacon and Footloose put on your dancing
shoes and be an agent of change when the
status quo isn’t budging and no one else
is willing to try show up and be
different be a rebel with a cause here’s
the thing though your greatest
opposition will never be an external
force it will always be that little
doubting voice we all have in our own
heads the one that’s afraid of the
uncertainty in the future the one that’s
always questioning your abilities and
capabilities am I good enough am i
strong enough am i fast enough am i
smart enough am i enough it’s part of
being human doubting yourself no one
walks through life so confident in what
they are doing that they have no fear so
here’s the zeitgeist moment of my speech
the best way to be a rebel is to be a
rebel against your own inner negative
voice there is no greater enemy nothing
that will ever stand in your way more
than yourself nothing is more common and
more destructive than that little voice
that you hear be the biggest baddest
most rebellious individual you can be
against your own perceived limitations
don’t
elegance society fight against yourself
be a rebel to dispel your doubts and
your fears and your insecurities have a
devil-may-care attitude to uncertainty
and let actions fly into the face of
doubt be a rebel to yourself for
yourself and watch the result in
September I will become a University of
Chicago student I have received several
drop offers from different dance
companies so it will continue to balance
dance and school my journey isn’t over I
still have a long way to go but I take a
small sense of satisfaction in that not
only was I able to pull down my own
doubt I managed to just prove some
naysayers too I plan on being a rebel
for life so I think in that event I’ll
dress the part that ah yes my jacket
looks like Captain America’s uniform
don’t say I didn’t warn you I am a nerd but I’m also a rebel thank you