DanceSport!

So I have the craziest story to tell! Yesterday, I went to Dancesport competition for Spring/Summer at BYU, which is a ballroom dance competition. The day before, I went to dance class and expected to dance with my partner, Jonathan, the way we had always practiced. We have become very comfortable with dancing with each other and working on steps together, that it seemed very natural to dance with him. I had a good feeling about the competition because I kind of thought that we had a chance at getting past the first round of competition (which was my goal). So, I went to dance class the day before the competition and I see my partner with a crutch walking into class. It turns out that he had played basketball the night before and rolled his ankle and ended up spraining it. I felt very badly for him—I did not know what to say. He would never be able to get ready in time for Dancesport the next day. I thought that my chances at competing were done. So, I quickly came to terms with the idea and just thought it would be fun to go with Jonathan to watch the competition. My teacher, Giovanna found out, and said that she was going to find me another partner. I felt very nervous by this idea—How could I dance and compete with someone I have never practiced with? That seemed so stressful to me. I was reluctant to do it, but I agreed to be the dance partner of another boy named Andrew. His partner apparently had similar circumstances to my partner, and hence, we both were in need of a partner. We agreed to meet before Dancesport to work out the registration issues and practice a little bit.
The next day, Saturday, we met and worked out the registration issues and practiced a couple of times before our competition started. We were number 325—at the very end of the line. We went on in the second heat. I was kind of nervous, so I put all of my energy into it. I did not stop smiling. I danced the triple swing with everything I had. I tried to lift my knees, swing my hips, and most importantly, follow Andrew’s lead because he leads differently from Jonathan. That first round was pretty intense, but we walked off and waited for callbacks. We made it on to the next round! That was totally my goal and I was happy that it happened. We went through the next round and got called back again! I was getting really excited! We went through the first round of semifinals, the second round of semifinals, and we made it on to finals! There were only 7 couples left on the floor! And we were one of them! We danced the final round and then watched a couple of dances. Then, the final couples were called onto the floor to be awarded their places. My partner and I went to the floor. I felt nervous—I was sure we would get 7th place. I was just surprised that we made it to the finals to begin with. I just assumed we would be at the bottom of finals. Seventh place was called, and it was not us. Sixth place was called. Fifth place was called…all the way down to two couples left. I looked over at the other couple. It was my friend, Matthew Marshall and his partner. Matthew Marshall is in my ward and is pretty talented. I was sure they were going to win first place. I was shocked that we were still standing there, about to win second place. Second place was called and Matthew and his partner went up to get their medals. Andrew and I looked at each other in utter shock. How could this have happened? Was it by some mistake? Was I awake? It was so surreal! They called our number—325—for first place! Oh my gosh! I was in shock! I walked forward with my partner and we got medals and squirt guns. (I have never had a squirt gun before J) We took a picture and then were bombarded with people hugging and congratulating us. The moral of the story: you just never know how things are going to turn out. I practiced twice with this partner, and that took us to first place! Who would have thought? Certainly not I. What was our secret? We worked as hard as we could and just went out there and had fun. It did not work out the way I planned—I felt more comfortable dancing with my previous partner, but apparently I was not supposed to be in my comfort zone for this experience—we rarely are supposed to be in our comfort zone. I love life—it is amazing how it works out. Who would have thought?