I was six years old when I first learned to dance. I wasn't in a ballet studio or a jazz class taught by professionals; I was standing on my wooden coffee table with my sister and my best friend. With her 8-year-old wisdom, my sister had convinced us that we had absolutely no dancing skills; as loyal followers, of course we believed her. With our favorite CD's full of Disney songs and old holiday hits loaded into the audio player, we began to dance—or at least what we considered to be dancing. Our feet stomped against the wooden table as we jumped up and down to the beat of the music. Our arms moved in whatever ways felt the best to us; most of the time they were thrown above our heads as we danced our hearts out into the early hours of the morning. That night was one of the most memorable nights of my childhood; I cannot remember a time when I felt more alive.

I believe in letting loose. I believe in singing as loud as I can with the windows rolled down in my car and the volume at its highest level. I believe in turning on rock music, pulling the hair band out of my ponytail, and having my own dance party until my sides hurt so much I can barely breathe. I believe in laughing just because it feels so good to let it out. At one point or another, everyone goes through stressful moments in their lives. Sometimes it's something trivial, like a calculus test the next day or if you remembered to send your grandmother a birthday card last week. Sometimes it's much bigger: if you'll still have a job in six months; if you have enough money saved up to send your children to college; if your grandfather will still be here to see your graduation. For me, it's what I'm going to do with the rest of my life. As a senior in high school, I'm quickly approaching a life-changing transition that I don't think I'm ready for. No matter what I try to distract myself with, the looming question of where I'm going to go to college or what I'm going to major in or what career I'll be pursuing in ten years seems to fill my thoughts to the point where I have to take a deep breath to keep myself from getting too anxious about it. In a world that has become so high-strung and fast-paced, I think it's easy for people to forget how important it is for us to let loose. Sometimes I just need to let out all of the worry I had over a test at school; sometimes I need that time to keep my mind off of how much I miss my grandfather, or how I wish my older sister didn't live 454 miles away. Eleven years ago, I first experienced what it really felt like to let go of all of my stress; to this day, I still make time to have a dance party in my room or belt out my new favorite song in the car when it seems like my world is about to come crashing down. I believe in the power that a few stress-free minutes can have on our lives. I believe in letting loose.