DMA Blog One

This is me: dancer,student,daughter,friend.

My brother and I at my dance performance

This is my life. My name is Ciera Edwards I'm 19 years old and a student at University of North Carolina School of the Arts for contemporary dance. I was born in  North Carolina but I have lived in many places because my dad was in the Marine Corps. I did high school in Virginia so that is what I consider home. I have an older brother named Ronnie who is twenty seven years old. I miss Virginia because I love the atmosphere and how busy the place is without being a city. I'm not entirely sure how many generations my parents came to the USA but I do know that my dad is Gypsy and French(see photo below). My mom is Gullah which is an island country. My mom is a bartender at the Kennedy Center for the Preforming Arts which is in Washington DC. My Dad is an interventionist and substance abuse worker but he was in the military for thirty years. The main problem for young people in the United States is the pressures by the media to act a certain way or "follow the crowd" to be accepted. Digital media in any young persons life is extremely important.We rely on it to make friends and do everyday things that use to once be done without technology. We rely so much on technology that we are constantly connected,we can never be without it. I have never been involved with growing food but I'm interested in anything that I can learn from and grow cultured to. I got interested in art at a very young age. My parents put me into dance because I couldn't calm down and they wanted to give me something to do during the cold winters when there was nothing to do. The more we moved to different states I kept enrolling in dance. 

My French culture

Mom, Teddy (dog), Dad

For young people just moving to the states I would tell them to continue to hold true to your values and don't change your self too much. What makes you different is your culture and that is why America is so different. All these different cultures bring something special to America. I have traveled to Germany and it was a wonderful experience, so much that I am actually studying the language and culture now. Since I lived in many different places like Hawaii, Washington State, and California just to name a few, I had to adapt to many different cultures which has made me a better individual. 


What matters most to me is being a good citizen to society and being able to learn as much as I can and give back to my community. We are nothing without sharing and I hope to learn more about other cultures and people as the years go on.