Halfstep in 2006

2006 is gone FOREVER. It was a good year and a lot of things happened in my life. A lot of positive changes and personal growth. Lets bulletin it out!

- Won my first battle:
It was only a club battle, but I was really happy and proud of myself. I got some cash, some stories, probably inspired a few people when my leg flew off haha. I wish I could see footage and see people's reactions!

- Joined CAB crew!
Ya, a few months back russ and the crew invited me to be a member. I've been waiting for it for a while now and am really happy and excited to start battling with those fools!

- Joined a professional dance company:
I joined culture shock dc last january, it was a really bumpy ride and I'm still not a choreo guru, but I'm getting better. When I first started I was so nervous all the time and self concious. But this leads to the next bulletin!

- My first performance with culture shock!
Ya after months and months of hard work and being shy and bashful, I finally got my chance to perform with cultureshock dc. I was only in one small piece, but It made me feel more part of the group and see how far I've come along this past year in choreography. I'm really hoping that I can do better in the next year.

- My first big jam!
Yup, so some of the fellas from cab, me JC and ironman, went to Bboy ho down in texas. It was a lot of fun and I'm really glad I went. I've got a bagillion new stories and fun times.

- Went to san diego with CSDC
This trip was really hard for me cause I was the only person going not performing. It was a tough trip to get through, but it made me a stronger person.

- New job at booz allen!
After paying my dues for two years working my ass off for peanuts, I finally joined a really good company. I'm doing really interesting things and finally loving work! I'm really glad to be at this company!

- Opened up a lot more.
I think this year I met a lot more people. Maybe getting into my crew and kind of finding out where I fit in a little more has made me a little more comfortable in my own skin. I find it a "little" easier to talk to new people. Hopefully I can improve this more in the future.

-Opened up to new dance styles
In 2005 I was just a bboy, that was it. Since I joined culture shock, I opened up the doors and allowed myself to learn hip hop dance, locking, popping, housing, and others. Its going to improve me as a dancer as I learn more styles. I'm still primarily a bboy, but these other styles are just going to add to my flavor.

I'm sure there are things that I've forgotten, but off the top of my head those are my accomplishments of 2006. I'm not really big on resolutions or whatever, but I believe in goals. Since 2006 was such a big year of growth and accomplishments for me, I think I have to set some new goals so I can stay on track to my life goals. Keeping with the bulletins thing, here are my goals for 2007

- Win my first crew battle with CAB crew
This is going to be kind of tough since we haven't practiced all as a crew yet since I've joined. But we have a lot of talent and one of my goals is to get everyone together on the same page and start to work as a crew so we can show everyone who's city this is!

- Make culture shock core team
With tryouts in just a month, I don't think I'll get this right away, but I've been busting my ass for almost a year now. I'm getting better at choreo, and I'm going to continue to work even harder. I may not get this in feb, but I will get promoted sometime during the year to the core team.

- Develop a new website.
Whether this be the start of my future business, or just something small to keep me occupied an increase my design skills, this is a good goal. I have a few things in mind, one having to do with my next goal. Maybe just a new personal site.

- Help develop the dance scene in DC.
Right now in DC things are kind of tough. I would like to make one place people can go to for dance info. Right now it just spreads from word of mouth or myspace bulletins. It works ok, but I want to be able to help make the scene more healthy. My idea is to start making a monthly or bi weekly news letter to send out to anyone and everyone. This would be something small, maybe have a few articles on the history of the DC scene. And then a list of events/practice spots/crew of the month. Something that would edjucate people. I think setting up a simple google-group would be nice start. I need to start building up more contacts.

- Get a promotion at work
Right now I'm just a consultant level 1 and booz allen. My goal for 07 would be to make the next jump to level two which would be senior consultant. I just gotta keep working hard and learning more stuff. I really like my team and the things I do, I've just got to be sure to keep myself focused and this goal will be possible.

- Start doing more work towards helping people.
One of my goals in life is to help those with disabilities. Right now in my life, what I'm doing is building my base to say "I've done it, here's how." Being shy its really hard to help others. I know just from dancing and wearing shorts and letting people see that I have a disability creates a lot of inspiration for many. That's great, but it's not enough for me. In 06 I did a little but not quite in the ways I want. I don't know if I want to do it this year or not, but eventually I want to throw a jam at a shriners or some other childrens hospital. I want to have some kind of disability battle. I've made a few contacts among bboys with disabilities, but I've got to keep making more. I've got to find the way of helping as many as possible that works best for me. I know part of that has to be about me becoming less shy, but we'll work on that.

- Improve my dancing skills
I guess its kind of obvious, but whatever. I've got to keep practicing hard, I've got to work on all styles. But mostly bboying. I think in 06 I improved my toprock a lot. I think my biggest goal for 07 will be to get more footwork. And maybe a few new power moves.

- Choreograph my first dance piece.
I had a lot of ideas in 06 of pieces I wanted to do, but I could never sit down and work through them and actually make a piece. Joni and I started a piece, but it never got finished. I think in 07 one of my goals will be to make a piece for culture shock dc!

- Give love a chance
Haha, I know it sounds really stupid. But I think I'm finally healed up from my relationship from college and its time to give this love thing another chance. Although I've been glad to be single and have a lot of time to work on myself, I think its important that I learn to live with someone else and still do those things. I guess this would be a hard goal to work at since I have no control over meeting the right person. But we'll see what happens in 07

- Travel to more out of town jams
I had so much fun in Texas and met so many cool people, than I want to go to more jams out of the DC area. Hopefully I can get myself to Evolution in March, and maybe a cali jam sometime. And I still owe kate a battle in AZ, so we'll see.


Well I guess that's it. I hope everyone else had a wonderful 2006, if not I hope you have the courage and drive to change things in 2007. Best of my wishes, and take care.

Peace
Halfstep