<p>Can anybody please critique my essay?</p>
<p>Tell us about a personal quality, talent, accomplishment, contribution or experience that is important to you. What about this quality or accomplishment makes you proud and how does it relate to the person you are?</p>
<p>It was almost as if I had almost forgotten how my heart thudded against my chest every time I was up on stage, the lights flooding the platform, the sound of my Ghungroo and the oh-so-overwhelming appraisal and applause at the end of the performance. In reflecting on the events of my life that have impacted me, I returned to this day, the 26th of January 2008. I had never felt so strong and weak at the same time. I felt excited and at the same time, horrified. I had come a long way from that night that I lay unconscious in the O.R. to this day that I was performing Alaripu in front of more than 1500 onlookers.
I was barely ten years and already two surgeries old. It all happened so suddenly that my younger self found it hard to even scarcely comprehend the convolution of the situation. Quite incongruously, it felt as if a conveyor belt was under my feet from the moment this news was broken to me. It carried me firstly to a dozen surgeons, then to the hospital, then the O.R., through the days of recovery and finally to the comforts of home. Three months later, after a series of similar events it transferred me to Hyderabad to another whitewashed hospital with the smell of sanitation. A laparoscopic surgery, a treated hernia, a couple of scars and stitches later I was home, again.
The days that I spent recovering in the hospital werent as difficult as was returning back to the life I had left off. It was most difficult especially because nobody understood, nobody could. As much of support as I was getting, from my parents, family, friends, teachers, not one single of them could possibly get what I went through. They didnt have those scares on their bodies. I felt separated from the rest of the world. I went into a cocoon. I was boxed into my house and the classroom. I took part in none of the sports and activities class because I wasnt allowed to. I refrained myself from going out and even talking, mostly because I didnt feel comfortable doing so. It was months before I started socializing, participating in activities and returning back to normal. What closed that gap? Dance.
It was all so familiar yet alien when I went for my first dance lesson in eight months. But as days and weeks passed, I started to shed my initial inhibitions and blend in. No longer did I feel separated from other people. Dance reconnected me to people. Dance reconnected me to myself. The clouds were clearing and I could, for the first time in months, see the clear blue sky. In no time, things were back to normal. I was mixing with people, going out to new places, enjoying school and even liking the dreaded sports classes. It was as if nothing had ever changed, like I had never diverted from the highway.
Republic Days special assemblys preparations started once we came back to school after our winter holidays. All my dance class students were participating and even I was asked to perform. If by re-joining my classes I took one step forward, this news took my two steps backwards. I didnt want to, I couldnt. Because the last time I was on the stage was more than a year ago and I had only recently started dancing again, my reservations were justified. However, with tremendous persuasion and encouragement of my parents and teachers, I agreed.
My heart was beating so vigorously that I could almost hear it as I was waiting backstage. But as soon as the song started, I didnt falter. As the routine progressed, I became more at ease and started enjoying the choreography. Those five minutes brought back my lost self-confidence and buoyancy. It gave me joy. But most of all it was testimony of how far I had come and how valiantly I had faced all the challenges posed to me. In addition, I realized how lucky and blessed I was. I became more appreciating of this life I call my own, my silver spoon, my self-sacrificing family and sympathetic friends. It dramatically changed the way I perceived everything. It taught me to acknowledge the beauty in everything. It gave me an unstinting belief that everything happens for a reason, a good one.
And the curtains were drawn.</p>