It’s the first week of April and most University of Richmond students are preparing for pig roast, finals and summer. Tess Monks has something extra to add to her to do list: Three hours of dance class five times a week, flying to Dublin, and competing in the World Championship of Irish dancing.
Using the word “driven” to describe Tess would be an extreme understatement. She’s gone to the rec center at 11pm to practice her routines in the squash court; she misses typical college activities to attend class, and she dances through seemingly never-ending foot injuries.
As her friend, you can’t help but wonder why she continues competitive Irish dancing. She is constantly forced to balance her dance life with her other lives: a full time student majoring in Economics and Latin, a tutor and a political activist.
Why does she bother balancing?
Irish dancing is something like therapy to Tess, she said. It acts as an outlet and enabled her to focus on her passions rather than her many other commitments. It is something that adds to her schedule and something that allows her to let go of it all.
Dance is not only something that frees her, but also something that informs the other parts of her life. She says it has forced her to gain time management skills as she spends most of her time in class, in dance class, or in the library.
Her goals do not allow her to quit.
“I do feel like quitting a lot,” she said, “A lot of times I come home and I’m dead, and sweaty, and injured, but at the end of the day it’s all about reaching your goals, it’s been a goal of mine since I was eight-years-old to go to the World Championships.”
Tess’s dance career does not occupy just the next couple weeks of her plans. Instead, her entire future.
She wants to enter a professional touring dance competition before starting her business career.
She has one piece of advice for those who are having difficulties balancing their passions,
“It’s important to prioritize what you want in life, and if you know you want to go far with something you should be sure to give it your all”