Why Emily and Ballroom Dance Experience?

I've told many people that there have been two times in my life when I've been lucky to have found "the best".  The reason I say "lucky" is because, going in to the situation I really knew nothing about what I was getting in to and did no true research.

The first situation was my current job.  I took the job as a public safety dispatcher with the City of Dublin, Ohio.  It didn't take very long for me to find out that, the department I work for is one of the top dispatching agencies in central Ohio.  The training is top notch, the department is among the best for its size in the United States and we continue to grow. 

The second situation was in who I found as a dance instructor.  I started my journey through ballroom dancing with some group lessons through the Dublin Rec. Center.  I didn't take classes here because of the instructor.  I didn't know the instructor.  I took these classes because I was employed be the City of Dublin, and the City of Dublin Rec Center offered the classes.  I know nothing about the world of ballroom dancing.  I knew so little in fact, that I actually thought I would never use what I learned in my lessons once my class was over.

I found that the ballroom dance community around central Ohio is much larger than I ever imagined.  I learned that there are U.S. and World Champion ballroom dancers who have made their homes right here in central Ohio.  I learned that one of the biggest ballroom dance competitions takes place every year in Columbus, Ohio.  As I came to learn more about the size and scope of this activity in central Ohio, I became more interested in doing more than just learning a few steps and moving on. 

I began asking Emily, my instructor in the Dublin Rec Center classes, for more information about private lessons and dancesport.  It was during these conversations that made me realize that I had found a good instructor.  Emily patiently explained the world of ballroom dance to me.  She helped me to understand the world of ballroom dancing and how ballroom dance competitions work.  That first conversation started very short with me asking a question before one of the group classes.  But I got lucky.  The other couples who were in the group class were all busy with other activities that day, so I had the class to myself.  Emily asked me what dance I wanted to work on and I continued asking questions about ballroom dance and what it would take to get involved in ballroom dance competitions.  For the next hour and fifteen minutes Emily continued to explain the process.  We talked about other students of her's who compete.  We talked about cost.  We talked about time.  We talked about the areas of the country where different styles of ballroom dance was stronger.  We talked about how Columbus had become so strong in the dance world.  We talked until the next class started.

After the next class, I still had questions.  I asked Emily some more and, what I thought was going to be a quick answer, turned in to another conversation that took well over an hour.  At one point during this conversation I apologized to Emily, as it was getting late and I was sure she had other things she would much rather be doing.  I offered to set a time with her when we could continue our discussion.  Emily's answer to me caused the light to go on with me.  Emily responded with, "No, that's ok.  We're going to have this conversation at some point.  So we might as well do it now rather than taking up one of your lessons."  I realized at that point that this woman, who makes her living teaching dance, was willing to spend a few hours of her own time to teach me about dance. 

That conversation, and several since then, let me know that I have found an instructor who is passionate about her craft.  That conversation, and several since then, let me know that I have found an instructor who is passionate about teaching her craft.   That conversation, and several since then, let me know that found an instructor who wants to pass on her passion for her craft to her students.  That conversation, and several since then, let me know that I have found an instructor who teaches the art of dance, and not just the steps. That conversation, and several since then, let me know that I have found an instructor who concerned, not only with teaching her students to dance, but with their overall well being.

When I made the decision to take my dance journey to a different level, I didn't shop around for instructors.  I found myself fortunate enough to have come in to contact with an instructor who was intelligent, passionate, and had a teaching style that worked well with my learning style.  I found an instructor who cares about her students.  I found an instructor whose passion for dancing comes through and is contagious. 

None of this is meant to say that other instructors don't have this same passion.  I've seen and worked with other instructors from central Ohio as well as from other parts of the country.  The reason ballroom dancing is so successful in central Ohio is because of the entire dance community.  Any student looking for an instructor has a choice of talented, passionate people.  For me, I've found the instructor that I will stick with.

Dancing My Way Through Dispatching.

In 1997 I was approached by a friend who was a police officer for the Dublin Police Dept. in Dublin, OH.  My friend told me that they were hiring dispatchers and he thought it might be a job I'd be good at.  I applied for the job, went through the extensive testing, interview and background process, and was hired.  I started my new career January 23, 1998.  I completed a training program that was about 3-4 months long, teaching me how to dispatch police, fire and EMS, how to handle the calls, and how to deal with true life and death emergencies.  The job of a public safety dispatcher is considered one of the most stressful jobs out there.  I quickly found out why. Taking the call from the screaming parent who couldn't find her missing child, keeping up with officers in a high speed pursuit and having that pursuit end with officers having to fire shots at a person in order to stop that person from killing them, calming the caller who came home to find that her significant other had hung herself.  These were just a few of the incidents I dealt with in my first few months on the job.

Twenty years later and I still work at the same place.  The difference is that now, instead of handling one police dept. and one fire dept., we dispatch for three cities.  Instead of handling a couple of hundred 9-1-1 calls each month, we handle over 100 every day.  With the growth in the use of cell phones the stress of the job has increased.  Finding a caller who has called 9-1-1 on his/her cell phone is not an easy task if the caller does not know where he/she is.  The one or two phone calls we used to get about a single incident has now become 10 or more phone calls.  Technology changes in the last twenty years also mean that the capabilities of the 9-1-1 system are stretched.  Now we receive text messages to 9-1-1.  Soon people will be able to send photos and videos to 9-1-1.  While those can be good, they also bring more challenges.  All of this amounts to making, what was a stressful job, increasingly more and more stressful.

In addition to the stress of doing the job, I have spent many years training others to do the job.  I also serve as part of the FOP Critical Response Team.  So, when that extraordinary incident happens, I get called.  I've talked to responders and dispatchers after they lost a co-worker in the line of duty.  I've talked to the dispatchers who took the call from the parent when the child died.  I've listened to responders recount how they did everything they knew to do to help...but the situation didn't turn out the way it should have.

So after more than 20 years of doing this job, how is it that I do not have serious health issues?  Stress has been proven to compromise the body's immune system, but I haven't called in sick to work in over two years.  Stress is supposed to increase your blood pressure, but mine has stayed normal or even lower than the norm.

Two activities that I participate in have been instrumental in helping me deal with the stress of life and the stress of work.  Running and ballroom dancing.  I'm not a fast runner, but I enjoy the activity.  I'm currently working on my goal to run a race in all 50 States.  So far, I've got 34 States completed with two new States planned in October and another planned for February.

Ballroom Dancing has helped more than most can imagine.  The opportunity to take my mind off of the day and focus on the music and steps.  The opportunity to focus on my technique doesn't allow me to dwell on the bad.  The opportunity to socialize with others, whether that is my instructor, other students, or other professional dancers, the conversation is not about my work. 

This way of relieving stress really came to light for me last February.  At the time all of Central Ohio Law Enforcement was reeling after two local police officers were shot and killed during a domestic dispute.  Emily, my dance instructor, asked me a question that surprised me somewhat.  She asked, "When you've had a really stressful day like this, what do you want me to do in your lessons?"  That question surprised me a bit. After all, what else would I be expecting my dance instructor to do, but to teach me to dance.  But this was the point when I realized that learning to dance is the side effect I get from my time in the studio.  The purpose of my time in the studio is much more than that.  Sometimes it's to shake off the funk of the day.  Sometimes it's to focus on something enjoyable.  Sometimes it's simply to laugh a little.  Even when the day hasn't been stressful, banking some enjoyment and exercise is also beneficial. 

We all have those life issues.  No one has a stress free life.  The question is, how do we deal with that stress.  For me, it's running and dancing.  What is it for you?