Sravanthi Madala is a senior at the Acton Boxborough High school. She had her Arangetram recently at the Keefe Technical High School. Sravanthi has been learning Bharathanatyam under Jothi Raghavan for the past eight years. The first time I saw Sravanthi was at a TAGB function when she was seven years old and she hopped on to the stage along with my daughter and the two danced with abandon to some Indian music. I attended her Arangetram recently and was pleased to see her blossom into a lovely dancer. She performed the classical style of dance with grace and perfection.I asked Sravanthi if she could write a few lines on her effort and her feelings and here it is :

My Arangetram was the most fulfilling experience of my life. It taught me many valuable lessons that will come in use for a lifetime. Through the preparations and daily practice, I learned the importance of discipline and dedication as well as determination. I learned through the hundreds of gallons of sweat that this is something I am doing for myself; that thought made me feel very good and gave me a new confidence that I had never experienced before. My Arangetram has been like a flower just blossoming, a flower that has just met the world and one that still has many experiences awaiting it. During my Mangalam, my heart was bursting with joy and thankfulness for having completed it with the well wishes of everyone. It was a great sense of accomplishment for me. I could feel the tears of joy bursting to get out as I stood there thanking the audience. They were tears of joy for having had the opportunity to complete such a task and tears of thankfulness for having such a wonderful family and many terrific friends who have supported me from day one. Having had all those people appreciating and commending me really made the eight years of training worthwhile. The process was a lengthy one, but it was definitely worth it. As the well clichéd saying goes, 'It's amazing what hard work and determination can do.' That day I saw the answer. As said by Thomas Edison, "If we did all we are capable of doing we would literally astonish ourselves. Well, that day—I astonished myself.

Sravanthi Madala is Senior at High School and is the Board Member and Student Coach of the Acton Boxborough Regional High School,Speech and debate team and Urgent Action Coordinator of Amnesty International of the local chapter of AB Regional High School. She is the editor of the school news paper "The Spectrum" and Recipient of president's award for significant hours of community service (225+ hours ) Has been teaching dance lessons to junior students at Nrityanjali for the past two years. Member of the National Honor Society and National Spanish Honor Society.

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