Summer Reflection

Chloe Cooper


Summer Reflection
My summer started out at Artz 4 Life under the direction of Jai Hinson as a volunteer. My dance summer plans were to go to EMIA, when I thought I didn’t get in I decided that I was just going to take classes at night at ABA. One day during my volunteering I got an email from one of the directors at EMIA saying that I did get accepted into the program and because they let me know at such a late notice I was not going to be able to get a scholarship so in order for me to go I would have to pay the whole cost of the program. Encountering this dilemma was really a problem because I didn’t know where I was supposed to pull almost 4,000 from, by the grace of god I was able to get the money and I was able to go away for the summer and study. This was a very different experience for me because never in my life had I been away from home without someone I didn’t know so I knew this was going to be tuff before I even went into it. I came to the program a whole day before any of the other students because I came from the furthest place everyone wanted me to get settled in and a little comfortable with the environment.
When I first got there the first day was very hard for me because when everyone started getting there I was like the only one that didn’t know anyone I felt. When I first met my roommates I found out they didn’t know anyone as well so we kind of just stayed together. The scariest part for me at EMIA was the placement classes and the rep auditions. Placement classes place the student in the level that the EMIA staff thinks would best suit you and your growing at the program, and after the audition you have the rep audition. The rep audition is a choreographer picking you to perform in there piece for the show at the end of the week. This process was the scariest for me because you had to repeat it four times and of course you wanted to get chosen to work with a choreographer. I was blessed to be able to be picked both times...