My name is Michael Sales, I am 27 yrs old based out of Old Bridge, New Jersey. This year 2020 has been the most difficult year I have faced in my entire life. Prior to the pandemic I was living my best life as a full time dancer/entertainer. I was working for the Brooklyn Nets as a dancer, I was on the final season of So You Think You Can Dance (season 16), I was working in the hottest night clubs in New York City, I was traveling the US for gigs and shows. ALL OF THAT came to a halt. This year stopped me from living my ultimate potential in my career. I’ve struggled to make it this year, I picked up warehouse jobs and driving jobs just to pass time. My life hasn’t been the same and I’m constantly changing my path of work because of the pandemic. I met a girl earlier this year in January, she lives in Texas and I live in NJ so we were doing long distance for a while. This whole year gave me major anxiety especially when the pandemic began. I was doing risky things like traveling to see her almost every month. I was always nervous and scared. I tried my best to make a long distance relationship work and always took advantage of the low plane tickets. All to find out, we weren’t meant to work out at the end. Til this day I am hustling trying to find new fields of career and trying out new things to keep me happy and sane. I still truly have the biggest passion for dancing. I am a hip hop dancer, (breaking) and I wish to pursue that or just simply spread awareness that if you have such a big passion for something, do not give up. Just because a pandemic had happened, we should never give up our passion. I’d love for this opportunity to share my story with the world. Thanks in advance for hearing me out. Hope to hear from you soon!

[submitted on 12/1/2020]