By Andi Anthony, Putnam City High School
Starting in competitive gymnastics at a very young age, Nora Neville quickly fell in love with the sport. Unfortunately, the physical stress of the sport started to cause pain so in sixth grade, she switched to dance, where she has spent the several years of her life training.
Now a senior at Vandegrift High School in Austin, Texas, Nora dances with her school team, the Legacies, which made it all the way to the state championships. Her team won and went on to perform in Honolulu at Pearl Harbor.
“Dancing gives me the opportunity to express myself in a way that words can’t,” Nora said. “As a very competitive person, I love having the opportunity to compete, stay active and be with my friends. Getting to perform at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii was incredible, and I’m so grateful that I got to experience it with my closest friends.”
Dance ultimately gave her more than just that trophy. She said she grew as a person and learned how to be a leader through her dancing career experiences.
“Last year I became an officer and now serve at the head position,” Nora said. “With this I have the pleasure of being my team’s social media manager. It was an immediate love connection, so much so that I want to study media management in college.”
Nora’s passion for media management has really stuck, and she even has an internship where she manages the Instagram and Facebook accounts for Barre3 Four Points, her local fitness studio job in Austin.
“I am a front desk team member, and I have the incredible opportunity to build relationships with all of the clients who come into class each day,” Nora said.
Since discovering her passion for media management, she has dreamed about her future involving a sports team media managing career. Nora plans on making this dream a reality by majoring in social media management/marketing and attending one of her top three schools: OU, Baylor and Clemson.
Along with her love for her dance team, Nora thoroughly enjoys spending time with her friends, family and boyfriend. The heat that comes with living in Texas has led Nora to Lake Travis more times than she can count to spend time with those she loves.
“I love hiking with friends and going to get post-run smoothies afterwards,” Nora said. “The lake is one of the best places to cool off, and since my boyfriend has a boat and jet skis, I can’t seem to stay out of the lake. Some of my favorite lake activities include paddle boarding, wakeboarding and tubing.”
In addition to her fond memories of competitive dancing, Nora also treasures experiences from her school dances. In particular, prom was a wonderful experience in the final months of her junior year.
“Prom was a blast, I had an amazing time getting ready and eating with all my friends,” Nora said. “Picking out my dress and seeing all the components put together was a magical moment for me, and to put the cherry on top, my boyfriend even made a prom-posal sign for me.”
Who knew that a dance class would inspire all of this? Life is spontaneous, people go through it not knowing when something will branch off and lead them in another direction.
Nora will someday leave dance with the knowledge of her newfound love for media management. She met amazing friends and made memories that will last a lifetime, all while finding the path for her dream job in the future.
