The stage lights dimmed, and I took a quick look from behind the heavy black curtains into the audience. Blinded by the lights, I quickly1. It seems that a great number of eyes were looking at me. I took a deep2as the music of my dance began to play. I entered the stage and began my3, the graduation test of the classical Indian dance.
After a decade of learning this art form, I had4been considered ready to take on the most difficult act. The test is the most important event in a dancer's life as it pays5to all the factors in one's life that6the dance form: one's culture and family.
The performance is undertaken only by the most7and determined students. It is a difficult process that requires much8. For more than six months, I spent two to three hours every day9these dances. Many times, I 10myself to my physical and mental breaking point, but still I would not stop. I could not give up. There was always so much more to do and so much more to 11.
I12a lot about myself in those tiring hours. I learned that I was far too 13to give up, and I was too proud to prove myself 14after I had set an unrealistic goal. Even with physical pain and mental15, I forced myself to meet my 16. Even when I was at the end of my17, there was always something driving me on, forcing me not to give up.
Fortunately, I made it. What I had done18the success. It was in those hours that I learned what a dancer19is. Those time was evidence that I could20something I set out to do.
