I could hear my heart thumping in my ears. The music to “I’ve Got Rhythm” from the show “Crazy For You,” played in the background. My hands were trembling. The words “ATTENTION TO DETAIL!” rang throughout my head. My adrenaline level was at its peak. I took in a deep breath before dancing out onto the stage.

After hours and hours of intense practicing, drilling dance routines into our heads, and hearing our directors Guidance Counselor Larry Hensley and Admissions Director Kim Brueggemann filling us with the utmost encouragement, it had all finally paid off. To be performing on a professional level in Downtown Disney, in front of not only loved ones who came to support us, but strangers who stopped to see a show as well, was, before that moment, just a dream.

A wave of relief passed over me as we struck our final pose for “I’ve Got Rhythm,” and the crowd went wild. I took a quick glance over of those watching and noticed that most of them were people who we didn’t know. It hit me then that we were attracting a crowd who were interested in what we were doing. A huge smile fell to my face as we ran to the side of the stage to prepare for our next routine “Happy Face,” from the show “Bye Bye Birdie.”

As we waited behind the wall that separated us from our eager fans, we kept our guard up. Hensley, who had been patiently waiting backstage, congratulated everyone one by one. He reminded us to keep up our energy because we still had two more songs to get through.

As I yet again entered the stage for “Happy Face,” the audience’s faces showed their appreciation of our performance. With a more jazz-like feel to the song we twirled to our final pose as we waited for the last song to start. My heart rate bumped up a notch as I realized this was it: this was the last chance we had as a group to really “wow,” the audience.

Our momentum quickly shifted to a high school graduation sense for “We Go Together,” from the show “Grease.” Our energy was high as we belted the words “rama lama lama ke ding a de dinga a dong!” The audience reacted with shouts of enjoyment.

Before I knew it, we were waving goodbye as we skipped off to prepare for our final bow. A few seconds later we ran out on stage, held hands, and bowed as the crowd filled with cheers. No one could suppress their smiles as we watched everyone in the audience jump to their feet to clap for us.

The most rewarding feeling after working on the same dance routines for months was the feeling of accomplishment. As we got back on the bus to head to our hotel after performing, the chatter did anything but decease. Brueggemann and Hensley couldn’t have seemed anymore proud than they were at that moment.

We were overwhelmed with excitement as we realized that we could now say that we had preformed professionally in front of strangers. It was also a great feeling knowing that we had become a part of family memories of Disney for those who watched us. Before we took off for the hotel, Hensley reminded us that we should be proud, because we were “golden!”

Kristin Marzullo can be reached for comment at [email protected].