As the Summer draws to a close, I am feeling extremely grateful for the time I have spent working on the Brackenridge Fellowship this summer. My research project “Writing as Recovery and Change in Classical Ballet” takes the form of a blog in which I write about the world of Classical Ballet both critically and personally. The pieces that I have written have ranged from the challenge against costume size requirements, to a personal essay about my exercise journey, to a poem!

My experience with using the form of a blog for my research has been amazing. I did not imagine that I would get responses and make connections with people over the different pieces I posted on the blog. I had many people messaging about their relatability or the research’s ability to touch on things they themselves haven’t been able to put into words. It has been incredible and emotional to receive responses such as these to my writing and my experience. The ballet world can be extremely isolating, especially once you are on the outside of it. It has been a once in a lifetime opportunity to be able to make these sorts of connections and have these sorts of conversations. It has been extremely valuable as well for me personally to be able to spend the time myself to do these sorts of reflections while working on my writing skills across genres.

This summer has been more challenging and more rewarding than I could’ve imagined. I have never in my life had the opportunity to dedicate this amount of time to my personal research endeavors. It has been absolutely incredible. This project is not yet over, and I hope to continue working on it for as long as I find things to discuss and critique in the world of ballet (which could be my entire lifetime!). 

I want to thank the Frederick Honors College for giving me the opportunity to be a part of the Brackenridge Fellowship. It has been amazing to work with such a talented group of researchers, and to learn more skills on how to become better researchers through the seminars. I will be bringing these skills with me as I pursue the Bachelor in Philosophy degree and continue researching over the next academic year. I am excited to dedicate more time to researching, and am sure that my time in the Brackenridge has prepared me for the work necessary to pursue this degree. Thanks for reading!