Hey guys!

By the time you read this, Thanksgiving break should have just ended, and you’re stuffed on turkey, mashed potatoes, and stuffing (my personal favorite!). Plus, you should be getting ready for the end of the semester along with a nice, long, and well-deserved, winter break. But if you’re like me, before we can enjoy warm cups of hot chocolate, reading by the fireplace, and unwrapping gifts with loved ones, you have a good number of finals to sift through. And if you’re also like me, and have three final portfolios for your creative writing classes due at the same time, you’re going to find a way to procrastinate it.

Hence, the reason I started writing this article.

However, this method of procrastination isn’t laying in my bed scrolling through TikTok, going on late night adventures with my friends, or gorging on snacks at 2am. This time, I wanted to tell you guys about an event I heard about during my first week at the University of Iowa: UIowa Walk It Out.

I heard about Walk It Out at a club fair right before classes started. From what I was told, it was a fashion show for people of color to show off their culture through music, dance, and clothes, to the rest of the university in a fun and lively environment. Honestly? It sounded like a lot of fun, and for someone like me who grew up in a predominantly white community and was far from home, I wanted to give myself the opportunity to tap into my culture in a way I hadn’t been able to before. Also, I was desperate for friends, and any excuse to meet new people seemed like a good one.

So, I signed my name on the sheet, and a month later, auditioned to be a model using Fergie’s “London Bridge” to strut across the room. And if you were wondering, yes, I absolutely killed it. There’s nothing more rewarding than being hyped up by a bunch of strangers, which was my first indication that Walk It Out was going to be a lot more fun than I’d given it credit.

About a month after my audition and acceptance, I attended my first meeting as a model for the East Asian group, and during that meeting, our group leaders dropped a bombshell of news: We would be performing a five-minute dance in front of all the other models and a live audience and we had two weeks to come up with something, starting, right then and there.

Great.

I remember looking at my group leaders in horror. How were we supposed to create a cultural dance with so little time and with people who had such little dance experience? How would practices work with everyone’s different schedules? Dancing with friends is one thing, but with strangers, it’s awkward and intimidating. How would we be comfortable?

But despite my hesitations, my group leaders had it under control.

During that first meeting, they separated us into two groups: Cpop (Chinese pop) and Kpop (Korean pop). I was a part of the Cpop group with two other girls, including our instructor, Selina. Since I’m half-Chinese, I wanted to get the chance to connect directly with my culture. Connecting with my culture was, after all, my original reason (besides wanting friends) for joining Walk It Out. So, I wanted to fulfill that promise.

There was initial confusion over where we were practicing, when, and how we were going to dance with such little time, but Selina had it under control.

Speaking of Selina, I think it’s necessary I give her a proper shoutout! With the two weeks we had, she managed to teach us an entire two-minute dance she learned, choreographed, taught, and then modified when we struggled on the moves. She was the most patient teacher, made sure we stretched beforehand and took the time to answer all our questions until we were confident in the moves.  Once, she even taught us to dance with a burrito in her hand, because she skipped lunch to make sure we had time to practice.

As the days flew by, I was surprised how fast I caught on. Now, granted, I was practicing every night in the mirror with my roommate giggling beside me and during my study sessions with friends whenever I needed to get up and stretch the stiffness out of my limbs. But this all stemmed from wanting to do well and not make a fool of myself out on the dance floor. Also, I wanted to make my group leaders and my group members proud, and I couldn’t do that if I was fumbling around on the dance floor.

In the last few days, we practiced with the Kpop group, solidified the music, and concocted a transition where I got to showcase my taekwondo skills to the crowd. Those last few practices went smoothly leading up to the day of the event: The Model Mixer.

On the day of the Mixer, I found myself mingling with a few of the girls from the South Asian group. I had a close friend there, and being that there were so many other people, I desperately clung to someone familiar and stayed there. Still, that discomfort didn’t last long, because the executive team of Walk It Out planned a variety of fun activities to keep our spirits up before we had to perform for one another. We did icebreakers, ate pizza, played musical chairs, and even got to take turns strutting our stuff on the runway. The vibes were fantastic and the warm hug of a proper welcome made me feel at home.

But then, it was time to perform.

Each group was fantastic. The LGBTQ group went up first and set the tone for the night. South Asia’s dance was upbeat and fast-paced and Hip Hop absolutely destroyed their dance without a single fault. My group was the last to perform, and as each group went up one after another, I couldn’t stop my hands from shaking. Fear pulsed through my veins and the urge to puke, run, and hide quivered in my body no matter how well I knew the moves. My eyes watched group after group absolutely KILL their dance and the roar of applause that erupted from the crowd after they sat down.

I was still shaking when our group was finally announced. I remember my mind was scrambled with stage fright as I turned the moves over and over in my head. Struggling to breath, I moved to my first position in front of the crowd and stared off into the audience. Anyone looking closely could see my knees wobbling under me.

But then, the music started, and I began to dance.

All at once, the stage fright fell away. I smiled, moved, and let my feet guide me. My confidence only grew when the crowd began to applaud and cheer for us, their support pushing me to continue and smile harder. It was hard not to bathe in their support. Later, after the dance was over and the two minutes flew by in what felt like seconds, a girl came up to me and said my facial expressions “told a story.”

But really, I was just having fun. I was dancing with my new friends and letting myself accept a part of my culture I hadn’t had the chance to explore. The stage fright was well-worth the reward.

And thankfully, it’s not over yet.

The Model Mixer was just the beginning because the actual show will be on April 9th in the IMU and open to the public. I’m so excited that my group and I will get the chance to learn another dance and get the opportunity to model some stunning East Asian clothes for Iowa City. If you’ll be in Iowa around that time, I encourage you to come and watch us perform. Or, better yet, come see me kill it on the dance floor!