Spotlight: Lauren Barry

Lauren Barry is a junior at Mill Creek High School. She is involved in Mill Creek’s National Dance Society, National Honors Society, Best Buddies, Next Generation Science Standards, Key Club, and iLead. Barry is the secretary for National Dance Society and also helps run the Instagram account for Best Buddies.

She says she was inspired by her sister to join Best Buddies, “I joined Best Buddies because my older sister was in it and she always told me about the great experiences she had in the club. Once I got into high school, I joined!”

At just three years old, Barry started her journey in ballet, “It definitely requires a lot of patience. I couldn’t have done it without my mom. She has encouraged and motivated me to continue dancing,” Barry continues, “If it weren’t for her I would not have made it this far.”

Barry takes dance classes at Mill Creek and also attends the Buford School of Ballet. She has been dancing for nine years and says, “Dance is important to me because it has given me lifelong friendships and life lessons.” Barry started attending the Buford School of Ballet when she was eight years old, “It was a perfect fit for me since I love ballet and have made a lot of amazing friends.”

At first, Barry said it was a challenge to find balance in her schedule. It was difficult to find time to hang out with her friends when dance and school took up a lot of her time, “Finding time to balance school, dance, and time with my friends was a challenge, but using an agenda helped me lot. I can visually see what assignments have to be completed for school and I can plan time to hang out with friends that also work with my dance schedule,” says Barry.