UConn Swing & Blues has been the highlight of my college experience. Without a doubt. Never have I been so enthusiastic and eager to learn more about anything else. During the 1st week of my freshman year, I was lucky to come across a flyer around campus. It led me to my first Swing & Blues workshop, and I've been dancing at UConn every week since. It sparked an intrinsic drive within me to desire growth, to challenge myself, to learn more about music and its origins, to learn from others with more experience, to feel the characteristic "swinging" feeling of care-free, joyous, and freeing movement, and to want to spread this joyful and liberating experience to others. This club has exposed me to not only other dancers and music lovers at UConn, but also to dancers, teachers, and world famous bands from the greater Swing & Blues community. This is what has been the most inspiring for me. I learned that swing dancing can be a hobby for life. And that makes me all the more motivated to learn and grow my dance abilities and experience dance opportunities like the workshops and dance exchanges that the USG has made possible for us in the past.
One thing that I want to emphasize is that one of things I appreciate most about this club is the interconnectivity between the UConn and outside dance communities. I would not be where I am today without the opportunities to dance with other experienced dancers. Especially after dancing in this club for 2.5 years already, the only way I can continue to learn and be motivated to pursue this passion of mine, is to dance with these greater and more experienced dancers. This past big dance event was not the same without them. I do not understand how budget cuts mean excluding these valuable members of our community. If anything, allowing the public to come to our events could save money since we could implicate an admission fee for non-students. We would much rather do this than drive those members away, which would also take away many opportunities and experiences from UConn students, as well as drive away UConn students like myself who rely on this outside community to continue learning and doing what I love.
~ Molly Barnett, Undergraduate Student
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