“I was born in New York City, in the Bronx. We were living there at the time because our apartment in Manhattan was being renovated. We moved back to our apartment in Manhattan when I was a few months old, and I lived there until I was about three. I went to different preschools in the city. For a little bit, I lived with my grandparents in Massachusetts, probably for a few months, and then moved back with my parents. Then we moved to Mexico.
“In Mexico, we lived in three different houses—one in Mexico City and two in Tepoztlán Del Monte. I went to three different schools there, not because of the moves, but that’s just how it worked out. I finished kindergarten in Mexico, then moved to Massachusetts. I have a December birthday, and they had me repeat kindergarten. In Massachusetts, I lived there from age six to nine. I went to Hastings Elementary for kindergarten, first, and half of second grade, and then to Touchstone for the rest of second and third grade.
“From there, I moved back to New York City, to the same apartment in Manhattan, for grades four through halfway into six. In those three years, I went to three more schools: first the United Nations International School, then I switched to a public school around the block in East Harlem, and then to another one after that. The last one, Manhattan East, has been my favorite school I’ve ever been to.
“Halfway through sixth grade, COVID happened. We’d been looking for houses upstate for about a year; we probably looked at over a hundred. My dad’s coworker lived here and invited us to a Mountain Bike Festival. We came, looked at three houses, and my parents fell in love with the first one. They bought it while I was still in sixth grade. We planned to move at the end of the school year, but my dad, who was following the news, foresaw the shutdowns, so we moved mid-year.
“It was hard to enroll me in school here because of COVID, since no one wanted to take students from the city. So, I ended up doing half of sixth grade and all of seventh grade virtually through New York City, even though I was living six hours away from my friends. One of the best weeks of my life was at the end of seventh grade when I went back to New York City for in-person school and finally saw my friends again. I think I peaked in seventh grade.
“Eighth grade, I finally went to Lake Placid Middle School. After that, I switched to Northwood. Before Northwood, the longest I’d ever been at one school was two and a half years. Now, I’ve been here for four years. It’s also the longest I’ve ever lived in one place, which feels weird. I can feel this urge to move far away again—that’s why I’m planning to go to Norway next year.
“It’s tricky because most people here come for sports. The first thing anyone asks you is, ‘What sport do you play?’ or ‘Why are you here?’ And honestly, I used to think—’Why am I here? Because there was nowhere else for me to go.’ Would I have chosen this school if I were living somewhere else? No. There’d be no reason. That’s helped me actually find a place. I think I’ve built enough respect that I don’t have to worry about belonging anymore. It’s unfortunate that I had to earn respect, but that’s kind of what happens when you don’t have a team to back you up.
“My freshman year, Northwood Dance was a thing. When I came here, I didn’t know what a co-curricular was. At orientation, they had tables lined up, and when I got to the co-curricular table, they asked, ‘What are you going to do?’ and I was like, ‘Do something?’ I’d never been to a school where you had to pick something to be. So I looked at the list and just said, ‘Okay, I guess I’ll do dance,’ because there was nothing else I wanted. I had never danced before. I joined Northwood Dance not out of passion, just because I had to. One ballet class a week, and at the time, it meant nothing to me.
“That summer, my mom signed me up for a one-week intensive at Alvin Ailey in New York City, so I’d be occupied since I refused to get a job. We danced eight hours a day—it was amazing. My body had never felt so good. We’d take two classes in the morning—ballet, hip-hop, whatever—then lunch, then two choreography classes in the afternoon. It gave me a taste of what it was like to be a professional dancer: taking the train, reading a book, living that rhythm. I met dancers from everywhere. We’d eat McDonald’s for lunch—very proper dancers.
“After that, I started taking drop-in classes in NYC at Gibney Studios, which shares a building with the American Ballet Theatre. It’s so cool because now I see reels online and think, ‘I’ve been in that studio.’ Alvin Ailey had live drummers for African dance—such an incredible experience. I also tried drop-in ballet classes at Gibney. I was terrible and heartbroken because everyone else made it look effortless. But I had never seen something so beautiful. I called my mom after class, sobbing, saying, ‘This is what I want to do for the rest of my life.’
“Sophomore year, I switched from the now-defunct Northwood Dance to LPCA. I met my ballet teacher and danced 2–3.5 hours a day. I was ready to live and breathe ballet—I definitely danced over 100 hours that year—but eventually, the joy disappeared. The mirrors felt harsh, the lights unbearable. I started skipping class, then stopped altogether.
“Junior year, I went all out with NOC. I returned to the Dance Sanctuary, did contemporary in the first semester, then ballet. That’s what I’m still doing. This year, I also joined the freestyle ski team, and I’m looking forward to seeing where it takes me.
“Last year, I managed to build my own little group of people—from all over, from all different teams. It was comforting to see that it could be the case, because I’d never seen that before.”
