Christina Ricucci

Christina Ricucci (m.imdb.com)

Leaping, turning, and gliding across the stage, Christina Ricucci inspires many young dancers to work hard and never give up. I first found Christina while scrolling through my Instagram feed and seeing a picture of her posted by my favorite dance photographer. Christina is a beautiful teenage girl and incredible dancer. The way she moves her body and looks so natural while doing it amazes me. She was diagnosed with Lyme's disease and went through a very rough time and, even when at her sickest, she stayed strong. I am Melissa Logan, a student at Capistrano Valley High School and I want to have the courage and strength as a dancer like Christina Ricucci does.

After searching in the Occupational Handbook website, I have found that professional athletes have a lot more to achieve than winning. Some tasks they have to complete often are maintaining and improving their skills, training, exercising, and eating well to keep their body fit, and be able to assess their overall performance after each event and make any necessary changes. Although at least a high school diploma is best to get to the professional level, no schooling is required to enter. Athletes should have a deep knowledge and passion for the sport they want to excel in. The average pay for professional athletes is $44,680, though there is a chance it could change. The profession is supposed to grow 6% in the next ten or so years. Some athletes will later branch off to become coaches or scouts, physical therapists, or even an official for the sport. Recent developments allow athletes to train harder and achieve more with high quality equipment and personal trainers. Overall, becoming a professional athlete is a very common and solid profession to acquire.

Christina Ricucci was pushed into her career at the young age of four. In the June 15, 2015 article, 'Christina Ricucci' on the dancespirit.com website Christina says, "I'd tap around the stage, and then take breaks to sing." When she was 9, she went to Murrieta Dance Project, a dance studio in Murrieta, California. This studio offered more intense training for her, which is what she was looking for. Ricucci says, "I like not being good at something and working for it. When you get it that means you've grown." I think this shows how hardworking she is. In lots of cases, when people aren't good at something they will give up and find something they are naturally good at. She knows her weaknesses and tackles them until they are her strengths. She continued on dancing and grew tremendously. In 2013 she competed at a prestigious dance competition in New York called The Dance Awards. This is one of the most tough and well known dance competitions in America. Out of hundreds of teen solos, she got 1st overall.

In September 2014, only a year after her huge win at The Dance Awards, Christina was diagnosed with Lyme Disease. She has struggled with health issues her whole life and with Lyme on top of everything, it wiped her out. On a picture on Instagram clarifying everything going on, she says "This disease made me so exhausted to the point where I could only dance for about a minute and then I would have to stop, I was bedridden, went to the hospital for a week, and was infected in my brain, heart and spinal cord." She has been dancing her whole life and after being diagnosed couldn't dance at all. Amazingly, she kept her head held high and a smile on her face. "I believe that God does EVERYTHING for a reason, and although we may not understand why he does certain things in the moment, everything always works out for the better. I hope this inspires some of you to never stop fighting for what you want," She says to her fans. Christina also co-founded a non-profit organization to support positive vibes throughout the performing arts community, no matter what.

Overall, Christina is a huge inspiration to me. First of all, she is an incredible dancer. She makes difficult moves look so natural and I look up to her in my dancing so much. As well as that, I look up to her in life. The way she was sick and couldn't do what made her most happy and she still found ways to stay happy, inspires me to always look up. Whatever I am going through, it could be worse and I can always find good in the bad. As for my career, I have had thoughts about being a professional dancer many times before. There is still a chance I might become one, but I also have other careers I am looking at, so class and college options vary. Either way, I want to be as dedicated to my job as Christina is to dance. She always works hard and never, ever gives up, and neither will I.