Quynn experienced firsthand what dancing could mean to her through her mother, who was a dancer herself. Starting off primarily as a dance and theatre performer, Quynn has had the opportunity to break out of her comfort zone and try out choreography, bringing her artistic visions to many forums through her performances for December Dance Workshop Performance, Beloit’s annual student choreographers showcase, and her mentorship opportunity through the choreography class at Beloit.

She has been working with alumna Elena Cusack ’16 and could not stop raving about her transformative experience. She was surprised by how well Professor Chris Johnson matched her with Elena and it’s clear Quynn learned a lot about herself as an individual and performer through this program. Quynn says learning how adaptive she can be both physically and intellectually has had a tremendous impact on her.

She now understands more deeply the importance of patience and boundaries. Walking into the performing arts with a debilitating lower back issue that affects her leg, she has become a lot more patient with her abilities, only pushing herself as much as her body allows her to do so safely. Her journey at Beloit in the Dance Kinesiology class and her experience being a gymnast has brought her back to the motif of failing and falling, meaning that falling does not mean you are failing, it just means that you need to go the extra mile to get back up; that can only come with a healthy mindset and an ample amount of persistence.

Dance Kinesiology at Beloit College provided an in-depth insight into the relationship between body, mind, soul, and self; this can be seen in Quynn’s December Dance Workshop Performance 2020 screendance. In short, she describes her piece as an investigation into grief and sorrow, and the uncontrollable nature of life and pain, and most importantly, how people with parallel experiences in life react to their circumstances in different ways.

Through this exploration, she has had the opportunity to look into her own life and how all of this has manifested and contributed into the performer she is today. Furthermore, Quynn’s dance training appears to largely influence her pursuit of her nursing degree. What began as a potential profession in which she imagined helping people, Quynn noticed an innate connection between nursing and dancing. Both departments’ curricula attempt to teach various methods to heal the human body and psyche; her awareness of how the mind and body can collaborate to create our external being inspires her to empathize and pushes her to think outside the box.

As a parting word, Quynn recommends every student to take at least one dance class during their time at Beloit College. She found every kind of person possible and even if you do not identify yourself as a dancer, pushing yourself is a stepping stone to understanding your potential and your overall appreciation for your body.