The choreography required her footwork to get faster and faster, to match the tempo of the Salsa music. Adrienne’s feet were already killing her and, to make matters worse, she was in heels. She realized a tight spin was next. Adrienne knew how difficult it was, but she didn’t know if she could execute it. She held her breath, closed her eyes, and spun through the pain. Even during tough times, Adrienne Ospina has always pushed past it.

  Growing up was not too challenging for Adrienne, especially because of her parents.  Adrienne’s parents worked very hard for their children to live well, especially her dad who is an industrial engineer and head manager at his factory. “They work so I can have a good life,” she said, “All I need to focus on is school and extracurricular activity.” With free time and support, Adrienne already knew what she wanted to do.

  Since all of her family comes from Colombia, dancing has always been something that ran in their blood. That being said, she had her mind set in wanting to do dance. She realized that she was naturally talented at salsa. At 13 years old, Adrienne fell in love with Salsa dance and became passionate about it.

  After three years of experience, Adrienne had tons of momentum, but that was interrupted towards the end of 2019 when Adrienne broke her foot in October. It affected her differently than how it might’ve affected someone else. She stated, “I was honestly more scared about not being able to dance anymore than what actually happened to my foot.” Her love for dance was so strong that it became more important than the safety of an important body part. 

  After barely making it past seven weeks of staying off of her foot, Adrienne’s muscle recovered a little. Thus, she got back to strapping on her heels and dancing on the floor. The still-present pain caused her to overthink about things, such as if she’ll be able to be as good as she once was. Still, Adrienne kept practicing.

  Even with the anxiety plus the still-hurting foot, her first competition back looked like no injury ever happened. She placed in the top 15 out of 60 competitors, as well as fourth place in partner work out of 30. The comeback was complete.

  This mindset can also be seen off in the classroom. Adrienne doesn’t like virtual school too much, and definitely misses being back on campus. This hasn’t stopped her from doing well in class, though. This is the last year for Adrienne before she completes the AICE Diploma. If she just passes AICE Marine, AICE Lang, and AICE US History, which she is very much on track to, the 7-course requirement will be finally finished.

  Adrienne has already planned goals for her future after high school. Studying criminology or medicine in college is something she would like to accomplish, as these two areas interest her very much. As for dance, the plan is to keep getting better, keeping winning competitions, and keep her body healthy, of course. Becoming a dance teacher doesn’t seem like a bad choice to her either.

  The foot injury was a major experience in Adrienne’s life, and it revealed that even if it was something that nobody would ever want to suffer through, it still showed her that she indeed has the determination and resilience to anything that she puts her mind to, whether it be on or off the dance floor.