Jon Kian Razon is taking every opportunity he can his senior year, and one sticks out to him the most: his transition from three years of basketball to his first and final year on the dance team. Last week, Razon shared his experience for people who are unsure of what extracurriculars to stick to.
“I wouldn’t necessarily say my love for basketball has died down,” senior Razon says. He explains that he continues to play basketball outside of studies and academic pressure, and when he’s with his friends. Rather than the sport itself dragging the experience down for him, he says being on the basketball team was “intense honestly, both physically and mentally.” Also as an AP student, Razon wants to focus on an activity that he loves and accommodates his already rigorous academic schedule.
Razon has always thought about dance, admiring the talent and confidence of the dance team members. “I just thought, wow, they look so cool doing that. I want to do that too,” says Razon when asked about realizing he loves dance. He also recalls the moment he was sure to try out for the team, when his friend Mia reached out to him about a dance show involving the school’s other sports teams: “She mentioned to me how there was gonna be a dance show that the dance team performs in the BCA,” says senior Razon. “Yeah, she told me about that, and she told me to join them in the sports dances, cause I did basketball still at the time.”
Furthermore, being a part of the sports dance show influenced Razon’s decision to try out for the dance team and be a part of every dance show and football game. “The experience was, like, super fun and it’s, like, refreshing,” Razon says. “I’ve never done anything like that before, but it was actually so fun, and from then on, I was like ‘wow, like maybe I could actually try doing this seriously.’” From that moment on, he started his journey towards becoming a dancer. “I’ve just been dancing since the summer. I feel like I really had to lock in and do my best, for myself and for the team.”
Razon is also appreciative of the team dynamic that binds the dance team together. As the oldest of two younger sisters, Razon has already had experience being in a primarily female setting, as opposed to the male setting on the boys basketball team.
He also acknowledges the differences between both team dynamics and the ways he interacts with them. “[For dance] a bunch of drama and stuff,” says Razon. “And with the guys, it was like we’d just make jokes, laugh, and just be like guys, you know?”
As Razon finishes his last year of high school, he inspires fellow seniors who are struggling to find themselves to simply go for the opportunity, as this is their last chance to experience what being a teenager has to offer despite the several highs and lows of high school, and he does not seem to regret his decision anytime soon.
