Hello everyone! If you don’t know me personally, my name is Alyssa and I’m currently chasing my dream to become a professional dancer.

Two years ago I graduated from the University of Kentucky with my B.S. in Biology and B.A. in Dance. Since then I have mainly been working within the Natural Science field, traveling around the country banding birds! And as much as I love that, I couldn’t help but feel incomplete when I was away from dance. Having danced since I was 2 years old (22 years and counting!), I felt the urge to take a chance and apply to a dance training program called the CLI Conservatory. And to my delight, I was accepted into the program!

I will officially be part of CY6, at the CLI Conservatory in Southampton, MA starting in September 2026! With my acceptance into the program, I immediately started trying to save money to pay for my tuition, housing, and monthly bills while I am away. CLI is a program that fits 4 years of training into only 10 months. So during my time there I will be non-stop dancing 5/6 days a week. Essentially, no time to hold down a job while there. Because of this, I am currently working 4 jobs to afford the program. I thought if I worked all the time I would be able to save enough money to afford the full tuition payment by August 1st, but unfortunately that is not going to be the case. It has taken me a lot of time to come to the conclusion to make something like a GoFundMe. I wanted to be able to do it all by myself. But 70/80+ hours a week of work isn’t cutting it. On top of work, I also have to keep up with my training before I go.

Ultimately I am asking the community to help if you can! Anything helps me get closer to my dreams!

Thank you everyone who donates or shares!

—Alyssa