DRIVE
Tonight is the opening night. For weeks and months, Nicole Steinhardt has prepared for the role as principal dancer in the AVA Ballet Theatre's production of the Nutcracker.
How does Nicole arrive at this point in her career as the lead in this classic production? Making a decision to do ballet, play a sport, or pick up an instrument, directs a person to a destination that may not always be known. I talked to a dancer, athlete, and musician who commit themselves daily to understand where their passions are derived from. What DRIVES someone to become Clara in the Nutcracker? What DRIVES someone to become a collegiate athlete? What DRIVES someone to become a dedicated band member?
POINTE to the destination
When a young ballerina looks up to beautiful, mature dancers, she begins to visualize herself in that position. Envisioning the future in lead positions serves as a great motivator. Nicole started dancing with AVA at the age of 3, and has continued every year since. Her role as Clara is a culmination of all her past dancing efforts.
“I started because my mom thought it was cute and I kept doing it cause Lauren kept doing it.” –Nicole
Lauren is her older sister who retired from the dancing scene last year, and is one of her biggest motivators. For Nicole, one of her main goals as a dancer is to reach that level of elegance and beauty that an experienced dancer possesses.
“There’s just a certain quality that a mature dancer has that is breath taking. Once it clicks for someone you’re like ‘Oh dang! Watch out for her.’”
The quality of a mature dancer is something that is earned through different milestones. At the age of 11, Nicole received her first pair of pointe shoes. The moment she fell in love with dance was around 7th or 8th grade doing the Secret Garden performance– her first part on pointe. The next milestone was becoming a member of the corps ballet in the Nutcracker. Getting a pair of pointe shoes and corps roles are moments that are extremely monumental in her mind.
“Growing up that’s what you work toward. When you see the older girls, you wanna be good like them. You watch and then you want it. It’s like everyones main goal.”
When I asked her what her proudest achievement as a dancer is she flat out said:
“Getting Clara.”
This is a death wish part. A death wish part is a role that a dancer wants to achieve before retiring. For Nicole, preparing for Clara meant showing up to dance for years, putting on her first pointe shoes, and dedicating herself to each show. She did not always know what roles she would get or if she would ever be the primary dancer in the Nutcracker, but by envisioning the dancer she wanted to be, she drove herself in that direction.
the DRIVER
Like Nicole’s mom, parents have a major influence in motivating their kids to participate in activities, but at a certain point the parents must move over for their kids to take control of their decisions. This decision making process is a crucial part of growing up because it teaches the meaning of sacrifice.
Michelle Duan is a freshman and on the golf team for the University of Nevada. Her parents were a huge influence in getting her involved with the sport from playing in the backyard to tagging along on private lessons at the age of 4. She decided that she wanted to be the driver of her golfing career when she began playing in high school. That moment instilled in her a determined mindset that would motivate her into college.
“Honestly, I found out that I was in fact capable of performing at the next and higher levels, that I could get better. It was always fun for me, but after freshmen year, I just fell in love with the game itself and it became more fun. I also realized the benefits of traveling to tournaments and meeting new people.” —Michelle
After high school, she continued to the higher level college offered. Moving on to the more competitive levels provided her with the motivation and drive to keep golfing.
“I knew that I wanted to keep playing and to get better. My freshmen year we made it to state and it opened my eyes to how much better the other schools were and that motivated me to want to improve and to be at the top of the leaderboards like them. As far as college, all I knew was that I wanted to keep playing. I would say that I wanted to play in college, but knew little about how much it took to get there.”
Commitment is not a point on a timeline. Commitment is taking that next step in the competition. It is built through overcoming challenges and striving to become better. It is a decision that must constantly be made.
change of DIRECTION
Greg Lakis is a trombone player at UNR; he participates in marching band as well as jazz band. He has played music since he was in 6th grade and has not ceased to play it every year since. His commitment to music came with its share of sacrifice and change in direction.
“I was doing band and playing football, and it was time to make a decision cause I had absolutely no time doing both. So I decided to go with music because it’s something that you can take with you in life until you’re an old man.”
Greg made a decision that would last. Music is a passion that he will pursue throughout his lifetime, that will last beyond middle school, high school and college.
“I think music can be a part of of my whole life. I can make it the center of my life or I can make it a side thing.”
…
“I just hope to keep playing and find ways to keep music around whether it’s in school or on the side playing in a small group.”
In the end, people choose the things that mold them into the people they want to become.
Driving Forces
Some students only participate in extra curricular activities to become a better candidate for admission to a college or to compete for a scholarship. The problem lies when students misinterpret the real reason institutions care about the activities they are committed to. The Dean of Undergraduate Admissions at Yale University, John Benzel, explains that the reason Yale cares about student’s extracurricular activities is because it provides a clearer picture of the student’s personality. Test scores cannot reveal the character of commitment. He explains that students should only pursue the activities they actually enjoy doing, not the ones their parents force them into.
Driving passions reveal a person’s ability to envision a future and pursue it. Creating challenges and overcoming them is the fuel needed to keep that drive alive. Part of the drive, is making sacrifices and redirecting the course. It’s not about the ultimate destination, but about the drive it takes to get there.
