ocsa stuff & things

Unless you've been living under a rock for the past five months or so, I transferred schools! Now don't get me wrong, I love THHS (evidence: this video to your right of Zuri and I laughing because she wrapped me up in her blanket and duct taped it shut so I couldn't participate in any of the stretches during choir), but I feel like I haven't talked about my OCSA experience in great detail.

So OCSA kiddos? This one's for you!

If I haven't made it clear enough, I miss you all immensely. Waking up every morning to realize that I won't see y'all at school in the morning is sad. I even miss getting out at five Monday's through Thursday's and getting out early on Friday's. From the 7/11 walks to the 4th Street treks, I miss hanging out with all of you.

To my Dance Pals:

You guys brightened my days. Even on sit up days. And Ben and Jerry days. (I'm not talking about the ice cream- those were rough) Even when I broke myself (multiple times), sitting out and taking notes for you wasn't too bad. I miss dancing with you all though. I miss listening to Garritano's specific across the floor songs. I miss hearing Gloria Estefan and knowing it was time for arms. I miss making fun of the combos we were given. I miss obeying Lauren's stupid dictator commands. I miss begging Garritano to play "Sincerely Me" from Dear Evan Hansen over and over and over. I miss getting the "good" dance partners. I miss seeing my little's every other day and reminding them to wear deodorant. I miss dancing to "BatBoy" and to "Shape of You" and even "Sur La Plage" from The Boyfriend. You all made every dance worth it. You made learning "Thriller" and "I'm a believer" every year WORTH IT.

That's a huge compliment.

I miss you all more and more every day, especially Mr. Garritano. He taught me everything I know and I can honestly say that if it weren't for him, I would not be where I am in dance, but more importantly in life. Every year I spent in his class, I learned so much. From Fosse to the Frozen audition dance. From which one injury to the next. From deciding which dance classes I needed to be in to helping me decide whether I should transfer or not. He taught me more than I could type and tell you all, so I'm just going to leave this part here. I just am so thankful for that class and I miss everyone in it so dearly.

Moving on to my Health and SOAR class pals/my Academic Classes Pals:

Thank you for teaching me so much about myself. I know that sounds strange, but I learned so much about myself because of the connections I made with all of you. From Mr. Tauge to Ms. Browne, there were some silly memories made. Specifically in my SOAR and health classes though, they can be summed up in two words, "oh boy." Lenore-Riga was an adventure full of U2 puns and CNN 10/

Carl Azuz memes. Thank the Lord God that we had that first semester because Health was a blessing from Christ himself. That class brought me so many new friends and so much joy. I established so many new relationships in that class. I'm so thankful to have bonded with so many people in the span of one year. To all of the friends I made in that class, thank you for loving me. For teaching me new things I had never known before. For accepting me for who I am and for loving me. Unconditionally, might I add. For all of the hugs and all of the jokes and memes we shared. That class was a wild ride, but it was worth it. So worth it.

And a huge thank you to one of my favorite teachers I've ever had- Steiner. You made coming to the sixth floor every day worth it. Thanks for making a class as basic as health so interesting and exciting. Thanks for putting up with the daily dosage of my drama, and for never giving me a detention when I made fun of your vegan ramen. Thanks for calling me by my nickname and for answering my millions of billions of questions. Thanks for letting me eat your Sour Patch candies and for letting me take home Pav over Spring Break last year. Thanks for coming to my concert at the end of last year and for supporting me constantly. I am extremely thankful for you, you've made a major impact on me. So thank you for that.

Before I get to my conservatory folks, I'm gonna write a small little section for Paige.

Paigey. To my favorite freshman. I met you on your first day of school when you were eighth grade. Whatta cutie. You were so nervous, but so ready to make friends. When I sat down at your table in Maestra Wu's class we started talking about what each of us did over break. The first minute I knew that I'd like you was when we started talking about the Christian camps we had gone to over the summer and we talked about Thousand Pines for a solid hour or so. That led to me getting you to watch all six seasons of Glee, and you getting me to watch every bootleg of almost all of the StarKid shows. From bonding over our love of Darren Criss to our hated of "Pobre Ana" I wouldn't trade meeting you for the entire world. I love that we could talk about musicals for hours and then talk about life for several hours more. I love that the fact that I haven't seen you in person in sixth months still hasn't taken a major toll on our friendship. I love you so stinkin' much Paige. You are so silly and so talented and so genuine and such a light. You are insane, girl, and I wouldn't trade you for the world. (But I'd consider it if the offer included meeting Ben Platt, Lin-Manuel Miranda, and Darren Criss at the same time. I kidd, I kidd. I'd take you with me if I got that offer!)

Okay now let's get serious. Onto my CV family!

Speaking of serious things, it's come to my attention that people aren't treating me the nicest at OCSA since I've left. I know that a handful of folks that I would have considered to my friends are talking trash about me. Now, that isn't the point of this post. The point of this post is just about me missing OCSA, and thanking a couple of groups of wonderful humans who made my time there extraordinary. I do feel the need to mention this though because I don't know what happened. I cared about you all so much, and to know that you all didn't actually seem to care for me much, kind of hurts. This comment of course is not directed towards everyone in the conservatory because that would be insensitive, but to those who are speaking poorly of me, let me tell you something. I left because of personal reasons. Whether it was the fact that the tuition was too expensive, or that my mental health was worsening, or that my parents thought that there were better options for my high school career isn't really your place to know. But to clear up a rumor I've heard, I did not leave because I hated CV. That is completely false. I loved CV. I still love CV. I cried in my jury when I had to tell Dr. Laz, Gonzales, and Lawson that. Imagine what it's like to have to tell three of your most influential and favorite teachers that you're leaving the school. That's hard. So I did not leave because I didn't like it at OCSA. I love OCSA and it will forever and always be a second home to me.

To get back to the good stuff, I would like to say that I miss you all so much. Someone in class mentioned a [ə] the other day, and I almost yelled, "SCHWA!!!" in class, but I had to stop myself and remind myself that no one here would get it. I miss joking with you all like crazy. It's driving me crazy to not see or hear from y'all often. I miss you.

I miss y'all.

I miss my family. My best pals. Living life with you guys for the past three years was insane and I wouldn't trade it for the world. I love you all so much. It makes me want to cry. Every day. I miss waking up and knowing that school would be fun. And that I would be safe. And that when I crossed 10th street and said hi to George that there would be a dance party waiting for me on the other side. You all mean the world to me, and I miss OCSA more than my words will ever say.

So with that all said, and all my thoughts displayed on a post page, I think I'm going to go. See you soon.

Much Love,

Delaney Miller