I live with three other girls in an apartment downtown. Two of my roommates are dance majors at Point Park University, and I have learned an incredible amount from them this year. Not only about their concentrations, but also little things that they say and do at home.

First thing you learn is that there is always an audition or rehearsal that they have to go to. Trying to make plans with a dance major is not easy, trust me! They are gone for hours at a time and sometimes you just want them to come home and hangout. However, when you remember how hard they work to be as great as they are, then you stop being selfish about them coming home.

One of my favorite things is when they find out that they are cast in a show. It’s not only exciting for them because they get to perform on stage and work with awesome choreographers, but it’s exciting for me because I know how hard they worked and think they deserve to be cast in every show in the world.

When they do have time to relax at home, there are things that they do that not everyone experiences unless they live with dancers. Their body makes popping and cracking noises so loud that you can actually hear it from the other room sometimes. They stretch a lot, but when you hear their hip pop it’s concerning sometimes. One of my roommates sits on our couch basically in a split while watching TV, as if it were natural for her to be sitting like that. The flexibility they have would amaze you. They occasionally ask for bobby pins for their hair masterpieces they do for rehearsals and performances because they ran out of them from the last show.

My other roommate eats so incredibly well that I don’t understand how she sticks to such a healthy diet. I watch her make all these super healthy meals for the week as I sit and eat McDonald’s fries straight out of the bag. They also have class extremely early during the week (8 a.m. is considered very early for me) and I give them props every day for making it on time after being up late finishing assignments after rehearsals or other obligations.

One of my favorite things they do at home is when they practice what they learned in class together in our living room. It’s like when a child comes home from school and shows their mom what they learned in school that day. There’s a lot of things that they do that I am so impressed with and amazed by each day. I think we were all meant to be roommates for a reason, and I think one of those reasons for me was to appreciate dancers more and their performances. Every time I see one of my roommates on stage performing, my heart melts. I get so incredibly happy watching them on stage doing what they love and work so hard to perfect, that words can’t even describe how proud I am of them. Living with two dance majors taught me a lot and I’m thankful to have such amazing dancers as roommates and best friends to cheer on.