Under Pressure: The Challenge of Balancing High School and Competitive Irish Dance
Julia Topper, PhD
As a senior in high school, Lindsey Huguet is all too familiar with the academic pressures that accompany students preparing to apply to and enter college. In addition to taking four challenging Advanced Placement (AP) courses, she has packed her schedule with the extra curriculars universities look for on applications: she is vice president of the student body, a peer mentor and tutor, participates in a service organization, and volunteers at a leadership seminar. Additionally, Lindsey has to find time to complete all those college applications—a time-consuming and often stressful process. All of this on its own would be more than enough for any student to try to balance, but Lindsey is also an Open Championship Irish dancer with the Dillon Magh Adhair Academy in California and achieved 29th place at the 2019 Greensboro World Championships.
“As a perfectionist, the biggest challenge has been trying to perform at high levels at school and in dance because I always want to give my best in everything I do,” Lindsey explains. “I sometimes feel that if I give adequate focus and attention to school, my dancing suffers, and vice versa. This balance has been difficult because my sleep is often sacrificed, even though I know that I have to take care of my health also. Staying mentally and physically healthy has been the other big challenge, but I continue to make that a priority. On long nights after an hour drive to dance and a challenging class, I do not have the energy for more hours of homework. It is a mental struggle to keep pushing.” Although she has decided to continue Irish dancing, she has worried that being stretched so thin, her dancing and school work were both suffering.
The struggles that Lindsey has faced are all too common and a growing concern for Irish dancers in high school, many of whom decide to leave competitive Irish dance behind when the juggling act of balancing school, extra curriculars, and competition become too challenging to continue. It is easy to understand why: of the students I spoke with for this article, most spend around 25 to 30 hours per week completing homework and studying outside of school, 10 to 12 hours dancing, and almost 20 hours dancing leading up to majors! When factoring in the hours actually spent in school, many teenage Irish dancers today are essentially maintaining the equivalent of two full time jobs. When viewed this way, is it possible to stay in Irish dancing and achieve your goals both academically and competitively? How? This article explores the increase in academic pressures in high school students, the effect it has on their mental health and ability to participate in competitive Irish dance, and offers some strategies for dancers—as well as their parents and teachers—to keep a healthy school-dance balance.
Academic Pressure
Students today are spending more time studying, taking harder classes, and participating in more extracurricular activities than their parents or teachers ever did. How did this happen, and where is this increase in academic pressure coming from? The answer is not clear cut; however there are a few factors that appear to be playing a role in this. First, current acceptance rates at top colleges are at a record-low. For example, Harvard University boasted a 4.5% overall acceptance rate this year, and many other top institutions are not far behind. In a society that is often too heavily invested in the storyline that success in life only comes from attendance at a prestigious school, these sorts of numbers can inspire panic. This results in the high levels of pressure that are then heaped on students in every aspect of their lives. Students are taking more classes at a higher level of difficulty—from 2001 to 2017, the number of students taking AP exams in the United States rose from 820,000 to 2.6 million—and are dropping visual and performing arts electives in order to do so, making their participation in extra curriculars such as Irish dancing even more vital. However, in order to be competitive in their college applications, students are encouraged to participate in numerous types of extra curriculars, making the sort of specialized dedication expected in Irish dance even more challenging. And interestingly, researchers are not even sure that taking AP courses in place of other high school classes, community college courses, or career-oriented classes actually help students to succeed in college. However, with the pressure to make their applications stand out, American students are afraid to pass up a course with the AP designation. And while this example is specific to the U.S., students in other countries face very similar pressures with end-of-year standardized testing.
Mental Health
When self-worth is determined solely by academic success, it leads to anxiety and depression. Recent studies show that teenagers in high-achieving schools suffer significantly higher rates of anxiety and depression than average. In a Washington Post article on high-achieving students and mental health, Amanda Zhou explores studies that conclude that the top environmental conditions that harm adolescent wellness are poverty, trauma, discrimination and excessive pressure to excel. As she writes, “It may sound counterintuitive, even perverse, to put relatively affluent kids in the same category as our country’s most vulnerable youths. While the stressors are markedly different, researchers are finding that both are “at risk” for elevated levels of chronic stress that can affect health and well-being.” In my own experience as a piano teacher for elementary through high school-aged children and as a college professor at American University, I have seen firsthand the pressures that accompany students throughout their academic careers. Often my college students are either just barely recovering from the burn out of high school and struggle to keep up in class (or, quite honestly, struggle to even care about class), or they are so high-strung and anxious that they actively make themselves ill. This past semester I have gone—in one day— from comforting a 20 year old university student who had a panic attack before the midterm I was giving, to trying to keep my 14 year old piano student awake at the bench, as she had been forgoing sleep in order to try to keep up with her school work. These are only two examples of an alarming trend that I have seen increase since I began teaching. In my work as an Irish dance scholar, this is something I have encountered again and again in my conversations with dancers, parents, and teachers.
Nessa Storms is just one of many Irish dancers who has had to make a very difficult decision.
Balancing Act
Competitive Irish dancing takes place in an intensive environment, particularly at the higher levels of competition. While there are many important values and life lessons that come from being involved in this performance based, competitive art form, the pressures that accompany it—whether they come from parents, teachers, or are internally driven—can be difficult for students to contend with, especially when paired with the heavy time commitment that is expected in Irish dancing. Ultimately, many are making the decision to leave Irish dancing entirely when it becomes too difficult to balance it with the demands of school. Nessa Storms, a former Open Championship dancer with The Academy Irish Dance Company in Ohio, recently made this decision so that she can focus on job shadowing prior to going into veterinary school. She is currently in her senior year and explained that she made the decision to do school online when starting high school, as she lived two hours away from her dance studio, “I was just exhausted from getting home from school and going straight to dance. I would normally get home around midnight and still had to do homework. So online school helped me complete most of my homework before having to leave for dance.” She notes to other dancers that being home schooled or doing online schooling isn’t an easy solution, however: “It takes a lot of self-motivation to keep up on the work. It’s not all wonderful and easy.”
Alexandra decided that dancing was simply too important to her.
Alexandra Ogilvie is in her freshman year of high school and is an Open Championship dancer with the Culkin School of Traditional Irish Dance in Maryland, which she has attended since she was five years old. In starting her high school journey, she has struggled with maintaining a high level of dancing while tackling her new course load in school. “Freshman year has been difficult transitioning from middle school, and the pressure of getting good grades is sometimes overbearing, especially if I don’t have enough time to do work because of being at dance classes.” Alexandra considered stopping Irish dance at one point because of her workload in school, but ultimately decided to continue, “Dance makes me who I am, makes me happy, and I don’t want to stop dancing anytime soon.” Although Alexandra noted that it is challenging to try to dance her best at class when she is exhausted—especially because that leads to her feeling as though she is not improving or able to reach her teachers’ expectations—she is well supported by her dance instructors and makes sure she communicates with them. “One of my dance teachers has helped me tremendously, because she understands my busy schedule, and knowing she believes in me helps a lot.”
Time Management
As an Irish dancer in high school, how do you stay in dance while not feeling out of control with all the things you need to accomplish for school and college preparation? Caroline Berg is an Open Championship dancer who also attends attends Dillon Magh Adhair in San Francisco. She was recently accepted into Stanford University and knows the importance of learning strong time management skills. “The San Francisco Bay Area is a highly competitive area academically and there are a lot of external pressures from teachers, school counselors, parents, and peers to achieve at a high level. The last two years have been particularly tough as junior year in the U.S. typically consists of the toughest course load and taking lots of standardized tests you need to apply for college. This year I have been juggling college applications with dance, which was difficult as the first round of applications were due at the peak of the Oireachtas season,” Caroline explains. “Time management is key—I know that’s something that gets said very frequently, but it’s a skill that has served me so well. Nowadays it’s so easy to get distracted— you think you’ll just pick up your phone for a minute and you end up scrolling through Instagram for a half hour. I advise dancers to put the phone down— don’t just keep it next to you on silent, put it away entirely or even make your parents take away your phone while you’re studying. I recommend using time in school wisely — any time you have a break in class or some study time, try to get something done, even if it’s a small assignment. Anything you get done in school is more free time you will have at home.”
Key time management strategies we recommend here at the FEIS App:
1. Limit Time on your Smartphone: Track how much time you are spending on your phone, and consider removing Facebook/Instagram/Snapchat etc. during the school week or using an app to block your access to them at certain times. You can also consider setting a daily limit for time spent on social media or texting friends (or only do so after accomplishing important tasks). There are many time management apps that can help you do this (such as Offtime) or use a focus app (such as Forest) that helps keep you on the task at hand.
2. Use a Calendar or Planner: At the beginning of each week, write out all parts of your schedule: block off times you will be in school, at dance classes, work, events with family and friends, and any other important extracurriculars. Then plan what tasks you will accomplish each day and when—this way, you won’t leave homework or dance practice to chance and feel overwhelmed by it as the week goes on. Blocking out specific times on a calendar instead of writing a to-do list has been shown to be a more efficient way of getting your work done.
While you’re at it, use a paper planner. I strongly suggest to my university students that they use paper planners, as studies show that writing helps you retain information far more effectively than simply typing—helpful for when you need to keep track of multiple tasks! There are many options: Erin Condrin makes beautiful planners, and for those who are more artsy, starting a bullet journal can be a great option.
3. Schedule Downtime and Set a Bedtime: It is easy to get overwhelmed by tasks and forget to let yourself have downtime. Try to plan at least one night each week where you can recharge your batteries (and write it down in your planner!): read a book, watch TV, and either spend quality time with family and friends, or enjoy alone time. It may seem counterintuitive, but it is an important part of staving off burnout and will greatly help you be more productive throughout the rest of the week.
Additionally, set a firm bedtime for yourself—this will force you to stay focused and get your work done in the evenings. Studies show that students who stay up late in order to study have more trouble understanding the material taught or tested in class the next day. Additionally, as a high-performing athlete, you require more sleep than your peers: it is recommended that from the ages of 14 to 17 you get eight to ten hours of sleep in order to fully recover from activity and prevent injury!
Supporting our Irish Dancing High Schoolers
The conversations that parents and Irish dance teachers have with their high schoolers are an important part of supporting overburdened teenagers and helping them maintain a healthy mindset. It is important that we be mindful of what values we are emphasizing to dancers—we need to reinforce that positive character traits (such as kindness and respect) are more important than achievement (excelling in school, competition, attending certain colleges, etc.). A recent study showed that students who believed their parents valued character traits such as these over achievement showed better overall mental health and actually achieved better outcomes at school.[viii] Reminding students as well that it is great to be competitive in dance and to want to dance at a high technical standard, but the joy of dancing and being part of a community needs to be placed above solo competitive achievement.
If we want students to stay in Irish dancing, we as parents and teachers need to make sure we are doing all we can to support them in managing their time effectively and that the messages we are giving them are less focused purely on competitive achievement and more on the values that Irish dancing can teach—both on and off the competitive stage.
To our hard working, Irish dancing high schoolers: we see you, and we know how overwhelming this can be, but we promise that you will get through it! And know that your value as a person is not based on your grades or competitive ranking, but on how you treat others. One last piece of excellent advice from Caroline: “I’ve always been someone who wants to put my absolute best foot forward, so I can definitely relate to feeling overwhelmed by how much you want to do. My best advice for balancing school and dance is to know your limits and don’t make yourself miserable. Missing one dance class or getting an extension on one assignment isn’t a good habit, but it’s not the end of the world. No matter how difficult it seems in the moment, you are capable of more than you think and things will usually work out.”
by Julia Topper, PhD
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[1] At the risk of sounding anti-educational, I want to ensure the reader that I recently graduated with my PhD; my stance is not that higher education is not important, far from it. However, I do believe that we as a culture need to redefine what success is, and that it should be understood as far more than the narrow view we currently hold.
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[1] Amanda Zhou. “More Students Are Taking AP Exams, But Researchers Don’t Know If That Helps Them.” https://chalkbeat.org/posts/us/2018/08/03/more-students-are-taking-ap-exams-but-researchers-dont-know-if-that-helps-them/
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[1] Washington Post Op Ed. “Our Schools Got Rid of AP Courses: Here’s Why.” https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/our-schools-got-rid-of-ap-courses-heres-why/2018/06/18/24018654-7316-11e8-9780-b1dd6a09b549_story.html
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[1] Zhou.
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[1] Kevin Kruse. July 10, 2015. “Millionaires Don’t Use To Do Lists” https://www.forbes.com/sites/kevinkruse/2015
/07/10/to-do-lists-time-management/#4809dcc84413
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[1] If you are able to, consider taking your notes in school by hand as well, or even copying important parts in a separate notebook after class. If you retain the information better, that will cut down on your overall study time.
James Doubek. “Attention Students, Put Your Laptops Away.” https://www.npr.org/2016/04/17/474525392/
attention-students-put-your-laptops-away
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[1] Cari Gillen‐O’Neel
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