Claire Kelley faced a tough decision, Boise State University (BSU) or University of Montana (U of M). Her final decision ended up being U of M.
After going through the grueling process of being recruited, she has finally had a weight lifted off her shoulders knowing that her path is sealed to U of M.
She got recruited to be on their dance team, which was not easy to accomplish.
Kelley has been dancing for fifteen years and has loved every moment of it.
Throughout the four years of her high school career, she worked toward her goal of being able to dance at the collegiate level. When doing this, dancers must start between their freshman and sophomore years and go from there.
They look for passion and determination, and Kelley had both. She attended fall, spring and winter clinics. But not only did she attend these, she reached out to the coaches, making connections and a great impression on them. She worked extremely hard to reach this goal. She also did audition videos, doing whatever the coach asked of her.
“It was a very long, stressful process to get recruited,” Kelley said.
She knew that this was the right path for her when she wanted to go to college but could not bear the loss of dancing. So, she researched and set her mind to dancing at the collegiate level.
Unlike most, she never had her heart set on a certain school, she wanted to go wherever she was welcomed.
“She was so excited to have this big weight lifted off her shoulders after deciding,” Laura Kelley said.
On top of that, Claire Kelley wanted to go where her educational dreams would be met as well. She is majoring in Kinesiology and Business Management. This is so that one day, she can fulfill her dream of being a choreographer for high school dance teams and running her own studio.
Dance has always been an important part of her life, from her mom being her coach and her growing up dancing around in a tutu to eventually teaching girls like herself.
Kelley is so excited for this next chapter in her life and is also happy to see her dream come true.
“I can not wait to live out my dream of being on a college dance team,” Kelley said.
Having her coach as a mom also helped her extremely. This is because she had a constant supporter at home and school. This helped her achieve her goals by having someone always around ready to help and a guiding hand whenever needed.
As sad as her mom, Laura Kelley, is to see her go and leave the nest, she is happy to see another one of her kids moving on and succeeding in life. After all, that is all a mother wants for her kids, for them to be happy and successful.
