Women's Empowerment Month Collection: Clara Y.

 Clara is the most pure-hearted woman you will ever meet. When we met she offered me a ride home after I fell, and she didn't even know where I lived. She's a hard-worker, talented, and very creative. 

Kaylyn Gabbert: I remember when we first met we met at a tutoring program for kids. What got you into tutoring?

Clara Y.: For tutoring in general, it was seeing a person go from not knowing something to knowing something and being a part of their learning's process. Everyone has different learning processes, and I like seeing what makes the material click for each person. And you also learn from that. Also growing up, people helped me with learning a skill, colorguard, math, and reading, and it really helped me a lot. 

KG: Have you always wanted to give back?

CY: I never thought of it as giving back. I just think of it as being there for others like they have been there for me. Like a community. No one can do things on their own. I've never really thought about it like that. I just really enjoy it. I like meeting new people, being a part of their lives, even if it's just being a stone in the river. 

KG: I've also seen your amazing dance performances. When did you first start dancing? What got you into it?

CY: My first dance class was in ninth grade. I started gymnastics as a kid, probably four or five. What I really liked was winterguard and colorguard. What really really got me into dance and seeing my sister in colorguard in a parade down a city street. I really liked them all marching together, the music, and seeing the flags all moving together. What really got me into dance was colorguard and winterguard. There is a lot of dance in guard, so I got to experience how the body can be used to express different emotions and stories. I really enjoyed doing that and connecting with my teammates as we performed as well as audience members. Moments of expression and connection without words was really what I fell in love with. Essentially, a flag or sabre is just an extension of the body, so if you take the equipment away, there is just the body, which would then be dance. So, when I could no longer keep learning colorguard and winterguard. I could still dance to express and connect with others.  

Note I learned from Clara: You age out of colorguard at twenty-two.