What is your superpower? This can be a hard question to answer, as sometimes the most difficult things to find are those that we love about ourselves. Our weakness: easy. Strengths, on the other hand, don't pop into our heads as readily.

There is a day that sits vividly in my memory when my dance teacher, Kellie Plath (or Ms. Kel as we like to call her), challenged each person on my team to share something we liked about ourselves. It seemed like a simple question, but every person stumbled on the answer as the question got passed around the circle. Everyone, except one.

When it was her turn to answer, Ms. Kel plainly stated, “My smile is my superpower.” This is a very true statement, more true than the pages of my science textbook. When she enters a room, there becomes a lighter, luminous energy that originates from nothing other than her glimmering smile.

It doesn’t stop at just the sparkling smirk she puts on her face, however. Her positivity radiates through her words and gestures. Everytime Ms. Kel sees one of my dances for the first time, she cheers louder than a fire alarm and beams with excitement. It sounds like I just won an Oscar, when in reality, I was exhausted after being at the studio for hours and probably looked like a baby giraffe.

Her enthusiasm, her assurance, her smile. It all makes a person feel incredibly loved and worthy. She instigates confidence in her students through her smiles and warming spirit, but what makes it so powerful ‒ a superpower some may say ‒ is that she knows it.

It was like pulling teeth to get an entire class to say what they loved about themselves, but for Ms. Kel it was so easy. In that moment she taught me to be proud of my strengths and assets. The most important thing is not necessarily to look for your faults and fix them, but one can instead find their potential and use it.

Ms. Kel has told me countless times to point my toes or keep my shoulders down, but what she has modeled for me is far more significant. Take your strengths, take what you love about yourself, and run with it. Highlight it. Use it. Confidence and pride in your best qualities is truly what makes an impact.

So thank you Ms. Kel. Thank you for pushing me to search for what I love about myself, and say it. And not only say it, but make it my superpower.