September this year, I was diagnosed with a rare form of ovarian cancer. It has been a challenging time to say the least, as I’ve had to undergo treatment while keeping my grades up as a Senior and attending the Professional Training Division at Ballet West. I feel like my whole life has led up to this moment where I am challenged to persevere by holding on to hope. Paulo Coelho said: “The darkest hour of the night came just before the dawn.”

I first learned the lesson of perseverance and hope at the age of 7. We were living in Oman at the time, and my parents took me to see Les Corsaire at the Opera house in Muscat. I was immediately in love with dance. I wanted to take dance classes but there were no teachers in our dusty little town in the Middle East. I despaired and almost gave up the prospect but we kept searching until we found a ballet teacher online who was willing to teach me virtually. Our guest room was cleared out and equipped with a bar and a small Marley dance floor that was specially ordered and brought in by visiting friends. Soon I was learning about first position and plies. As the years ticked by, my passion for dance grew until it finally bloomed into the decision to have a career in dance. To me, dancing is not only a way to express beauty and grace, but inspire the expectation of breakthrough.

I learned this too, watching my parents, who with post-graduate degrees, forwent lucrative careers in the corporate world to answer a lifelong the call to bring hope to refugees from countries affected by corruption, famine and war.  It helped me to understand that life is about showing kindness to the brokenhearted, caring for the sick, and equipping those in need of a vocation to provide for their families.

Their example cultivated in me, an empathy and respect for those going through hardship. It motivated me to participate in an event, held in my home country, South Africa, dedicated to National Unity Day bringing hopefulness to the people of Africa. It earned me recognition from the Federal Agency for the Commonwealth of Independent States for my participation and cemented my resolve to always dance with purpose, purpose to make the world a better place.

In 2018 we moved to the US as my parents serve with a US non-profit, among legal refugees from Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan.  I’ve continued to volunteer my time and skills and was honored to be recognized by the UN Association of the United States of America for 47 hours of 28 Service activities with special Dedication to Delivering Impact toward the UN Global Goal 3: Good Health and Well-Being.

Dance training in the US opened the door to high level competitions, and my dedication to inspire bravery through dance have led to numerous High Score Awards and Scholarships from institutions such as Youth American Grand Prix, New York City Dance Alliance and Washington DC Grand Prix. I also received scholarship invitations from variety of dance Schools such as Hubbard Street, Joffrey Ballet and Ballet West as well as McDonald Selznick Associates. I’m so grateful, humbled for every opportunity.

On Nov 3rd I will undergo a salpingo-oophorectomy and the oncologist expects me to be cured after that. My battle with cancer has been marked by the pursuit of dawn. It has given me an added purpose to provide hope and inspire others, through dance, that cancer is merely the dark before the dawn.  Fighting for your dreams only requires one thing. A willing heart to persevere and never give up hope.

Pace’s mission to equip students to “to make positive and enduring contributions to our future world” resonates with my core values, and draws me to pursue the BFA in Commercial Dance at The Sands College of Performing Arts.