By Ambergrace Castro
Now, I don’t mean the headline title in a completely negative way. On the contrary, it’s been quite the journey experiencing my first PCN from the perspective of a graduating senior. It has made the success of accomplishing every dance that much more rewarding, and the memories that much more bittersweet with each passing week.
Since I am still writing this reflection that only means one thing. That I, Ambergrace, an average person with zero dance experience, am fortunate to have made it into two of the dances! I was extremely nervous because for Jota Intramurena and Bulaklakan there is a specific limited number of girls that are required for each dance. Even though I still struggle to keep my posture and hold my arm out properly (enough room to hold a beach ball or an awkward hug) I feel more confident with each rehearsal. I think that is part of the greatest joy of practicing. What at first seems too difficult is no longer impossible, especially with the support of a team.
What else is a part of PCN taking over? Well another essential PCN routine is that wherever you go, you never go alone. Whether it’s for a fundraiser at Buffalo Wild Wings with 30+ people, building friendships on the walks to the garage or catching up on the drive home, the community aspect has to be my favorite.
Another first for the last time was experiencing the PCN photo shoot! The entire rushing whirlwind of getting make up done and dressing up as well as putting on our costumes for the first time was the perfect little taste of how I imagine the actual day will feel like. I even took a few photos of myself fully dressed and made up for Bulaklakan and sent it to my parents. To my delight they could hardly recognize me and thought I sent them a picture of someone else. A show where I get to play someone entirely different from myself? Now that’s a fun challenge everyone should go through. To add to that list of experiences, I signed up for one more dance just to make things interesting. I decided to take on Contemporary because it’s as beautiful as it is uncomfortable for me to do. I feel like this is my episode on the MTV show, “Made” because this is everything I could possibly fear but dream of always wanting to do. What better way to end this college experience than with this?
The days are winding down, and we can count the number of weeks until the show with one hand. The sacrifices we make for practices make more sense as the bigger picture becomes clearer. I still have to clean up a bit of my footwork, and I’ve got some Tagalog to memorize to sing with Pilharmonix, but these are all joyful moments I hope to never forget.
Kaisahan Balita - Pilipino American Collegiate Endeavor 