I can say without a doubt that ballet has been one of the most influential activities I have done in my entire life. I have been dancing ballet since I was seven, and it has been a passion of mine since I was just three years old and would sit in the doorway of my big sister's classes to watch her jump and twirl about the studio. Ballet has had a profound effect on my life, from the way I carry myself to the way I express my emotions. As a ballet dancer, you and I both know that there are many telltale signs that someone dances ballet. If you are or were a ballet dancer, you are definitely familiar with these quirks, sentiments, and experiences unique to the art of ballet.

1. "You look like a ballet dancer."

Yeah, I know.

2. The melodious sound of your heels cracking while you walk.

What can I say? We're ballet dancers. We crack. And it is not just our heels that crack. It is also our hips, our shoulders, our backs, anything really. Sometimes I will walk down my dorm hallway late at night when one or two people are doing homework, and the cracking never fails to make their heads turn in ... shock? Disgust? Concern? Trust me, I'm fine. Really. It comes with the art.

3. School scoliosis tests were always a walk in the park.

The school nurse was always grateful — you went down so quickly that you were in and out in two seconds. The other kids were in absolute awe. It was quite the novelty to be able to bend it like Gumby. While the other kids struggled just to reach their toes with their fingertips, you could always put your hands flat on the floor with ease. Flexibility is one of the many perks of doing ballet!

4. Needing to stretch at random times when you are not dancing.

My sister and I both happen to have particularly long and flexible Achilles tendons, and we are both apt to pop into this stretch at any given moment. It just feels so good. As a ballet dancer, you get so used to be stretched out that being less-than-stretched is not explicitly uncomfortable ... but it just feels so much better to be stretched. There are few sensations more satisfying than the feeling of a properly stretched Achilles tendon.

5. Sitting down on the ground and immediately plopping into a stretch.

Force of habit.

6. Sitting in strange positions in general.

7. This movie was more important to you than life itself.

You know you alternated between crushing on Cooper Nielsen for his sex appeal and crushing on Charlie because he was just the absolute sweetest. Also, you were in absolute awe that two male dancers that cute could be straight. Sergei and his girlfriend Gallina were both long distance goals and ballet couple goals. You wanted a friend as supportive as Erik, and you wanted Maureen's technique, Eva's sass, and Jodie's work ethic and passion. You were also jealous of her for the fact that she had two hot, straight male dancers literally fighting over her.

8. You have the fondest memories of Nutcracker.

Throwback to Picnik...

Ahhh, Nut. The party scene was basically the burning of Georgia in "Gone With the Wind": boring and too damn long. Being an angel made you feel pretty and, well, angelic, and being Clara was #goals. But you knew deep down that Clara was actually kind of a boring role — after all, she sits for most of the second act. Actual goals were harlequin doll, polichinelle (“Mother Gingers,” featured above), flower scene, or snow scene. You know the Sugar Plum/Cavalier pas de deux by heart — the music and the dance. Even though when you really think about it, The Nutcracker is kind of basic and it is no one's favorite ballet, it was still your favorite part of every holiday season and it provided you with endless memories.

9. This was basically porn to you.

Oh yeah. Watching a beautiful pair of banana feet do their thing is eyegasmic. My feet are just alright — good enough, but no one is asking me to model for Capezio. Having ballet-perfect high insteps/arches was always the dream.

10. Turnout.

Those little girls are way more en pointe (haha, see what I did there?) than I ever was. No matter what you did, it seemed like your turnout was never good enough. No matter how long you stayed plopped in the frog position, you still couldn't get full 180. Oh, the frustration.

11. Painting your nails was a fruitless endeavor, so you never did it.

If you painted your finger nails, the polish would invariably chip or peel off while you were tucking in your pointe shoe ribbons. Toenails? Forget it. You were lucky if you didn't lose an entire toenail while doing pointe. Polish wouldn't stand a chance.

12. The extensive routine you followed when putting on your pointe shoes.

For me, it was bunion pads, tape, lamb’s wool, toe pads, more lamb's wool stuffed in my box, and then finally actually putting on my pointe shoes. It was a lengthy process, but the lengthier your process, the more professional you felt. Also, the less you felt like you were dying while en pointe. That was a plus.

13. Having very strong opinions about toe pads.

They were absolutely necessary. Only the hardcore girls didn't wear them, claiming that they "like to feel the floor." I always called the bullshit on this one, because these girls were just trying to appear "professional," as if they were too good to feel the pain. Meanwhile, even the pros wear toe pads. Some even wear two pairs. Take that. Anyway, if you weren't an insane, obnoxious wannabe, you had a strong allegiance to your preferred toe pad. I started off with the classic Ouch Pouch, then I switched to Gellows for a bit because I felt the Ouch Pouch were a bit too thick for my liking. The Gellows were nice since they were a tad thinner and had cloth only on one side, but they ripped way too easily and once they ripped, they were gone for good. I eventually switched back to the Ouch Pouch once I advanced and needed the thickness. Always nude, never colored. Although they were pretty, I was weary of them for fear of having my neon toe pad peek out of my vamp on stage! Oh, and never full gel pads. Too sticky, too easily ripped.

14. Loving your beautiful new pointe shoes ...

15. ... but knowing that they are nowhere near ready for dancing.

Rough up the sole with a knife, yank the nail out, crush the box in a door hinge. Everyone had their own unique routine for how to prepare their pointe shoes to be an extension of themselves.

16. The slippery slope between a perfectly broken in pointe shoe and a dead pointe shoe.

There's a fine line between pleasure and pain.

17. That feeling when you execute a perfect grand jeté.

That climactic moment when your legs explode midair into a slight 'v,' that moment of suspension when you just float for a second, is sheer perfection. There is truly nothing quite like it.

18. "Merde!"

For some reason, we wished each other luck before performances by shouting "shit!" to one another in French. I cannot even fathom how humorous it is to see young dancers throw this term around yet not have any idea what it actually means.

19. Hating one side of the barre because you had to use your less flexible hip.

You want us to do the right side? No problem! Oh, now you want the left side? Uhhh ...

20. Your posture is always on point.

When you’re a dancer, your stature is required to be perfect. Eventually, it ends up making its way into your life outside of class (which, let’s be honest, was practically non-existent). People come to know you by your poised and graceful mannerisms.

21. The concept of a "messy bun" is foreign to you.

I am a big fan of throwing my hair into a bun when I am too busy or in too much of a rush to do anything else. But that bun will not be "messy." My hands do not know how to do that. It will be in a perfect coil, and it will take me five seconds, because I have been doing it for the past 3/4 of my life.

22. Using rosin and feeling like a goddamn professional.

Your studio owners hated you for making the marley sticky and impossible to clean, but you used it anyway because it made you feel really cool and it was actually kind of necessary. ‘Tis better to have stained marley than to have a strained ankle!

23. People are always shocked when you say that being en pointe really isn't that painful.

It can’t be painful when your feet just go numb after you’ve been up for five minutes. Is my big toenail still attached to my toe? Am I bleeding? Can’t tell, can’t feel anything.

24. You know that the real pain comes AFTER the boots come off.

Ahh. So I see I am indeed missing a toenail. And I am indeed bleeding. Wonderful.

25. But still, even through all the blood, sweat, and tears, you know that ballet has been and continues to be a positive influence in your life, and you wouldn't give up for the world the wealth of physical, mental, and emotional lessons you have learned from ballet.