Swirling her dress across her body, Cristina Castillo felt her legs aching as she had a big smile on her face when approaching the judges with her Folklorico dancing team during the homecoming parade. After passing through the parade, they collapsed in exhaustion but their smile was still stuck to their faces.

“I was so tired but we struggled together to bring it together, in a good way,” Castillo said. “It helped us kind of bond and gave us amazing memories to share.”

Seeing a poster on the wall, Castillo joined the Folklorico as a way to fill up a block in her schedule when she started her junior year.

“I had never known anything like this, when I saw the poster on the wall, I decided to join because it looked fun,” Castillo said.

At the beginning, she was considering on dropping in order to fulfill her other credits first since the folklorico class was just an elective.

“I was emailing my counselor and everything,” Castillo said. “But my friend I had met in this class convinced me to stay so I decided to give it a shot and I really enjoyed it.”

Despite never have danced in her life, she was able to perform full dance routines within days.

“After teaching me the basics, I was able to learn pretty quickly,” Castillo said. “It came really easy to me, very naturally.”

As she learned more dance moves and choreographs, she started to perform with her folklorico dance team in different places.

“I love how much fun I have with my friends,” Castillo said. “Performing is also just so thrilling and adds on the enjoyment we all collectively share.”

Progressing her skills from a simple folklorico class offered at school, she said that she might do it outside of school too.

“I was thinking about it,” Castillo said. “My friend is trying to get me to join a company for it, while I am very busy, it sounds like a fun side activity I could do.”

From almost quitting the class to performing in front of many audiences, Castillo says that she is glad she stayed in the class.

“I feel like it has helped me become more confident, like performing in front of a bunch of people,” Castillo said. “At first, I was really nervous but now it is something that I’m so used to, it comes easy to me now.”