She lights up the dance floor like the sunrise. Cameras flash like diamonds. The crowd of 300 plus roar upon her like lions. And in the center of the dance floor, Carly Smith and her team embrace each other in victory.

Sophomore Carly Smith and her dance team competed and won in the 2007 Stage One National Dance Finals.

“We were shocked. We screamed so loud we could hear ourselves miles away,” Smith said.

When she was three, Carly’s mom enrolled her in dance class at Stage Door Dance Centre. As time went by, Carly grew a strong passion for dancing and has loved it ever since.

“I was never one of those kids who cried about going to dance. I actually wanted to go,” Smith said.

Aside from maintaining a 4.0 GPA, church every Sunday and time for her friends, Carly has dance practice five out of seven days of the week for 12 hours. It’s a workload, but Carly manages to get by, surpassing mediocrity with flying colors.

“It’s really hard to do. It’s something I put my mind to and I want to accomplish,” Carly said.

Before the competition, Carly and her team say a quick prayer and then pace on to the dance floor. The brief prayer and time with her team still doesn’t completely quiet Carly’s rattled nerves as she gets into pose.

“Every time I go up to perform I feel like I have to wet my pants,” she said.

A lot of things go through Carly’s mind before she performs, but all are ultimately silenced as she begins to move along with the beat.

“As soon as the music starts, the adrenaline kicks in, and I start to have the time of my life,” Smith said.

At the end of the day, Carly had her picture taken for the newspaper. In addition, she and her team won a trophy, taller than her, prize money for her dance school, and the dignity for beating the best of the best.

“None of us believed we would actually win, we couldn’t believe it,” she said.

Carly believes all of her hard work, practicing, and determination to win is put to the test on the dance floor. She takes her first step, leaving all of her fears behind, and just has fun doing what she loves.

“Nothing could ever stop me from dancing,” Carly said.