By: Jami Frantz
3/1/2007

Shannon Holt has been taking the list of things she wants to do before she dies more seriously for the past couple of years.

The list includes a broad swatch of goals: publishing poetry, reading books that are a couple of thousand pages, learning to play chess and poker, and visiting some specific places in the United States and the world, including Africa.

Born in Burlington, Mass., and raised in Windham, N.H., she grew up in an atmosphere that encouraged her to speak her mind, and if she didn’t know something, to look it up herself, she said.

She also considers herself to be politically charged, which she said she gets from her father’s love of politics.

Holt will graduate in May with degrees in ballet and criminal justice. After taking time off, she plans to attend law school, but she will always love ballet.

“If I could dance all the way through law school, I would,” Holt said.

Hatred for injustice

In many areas of the world, Christians are quick to fight for God’s children. They feed the hungry and clothe the poor, she said.

They understand God’s love for justice, but forget God’s hatred for injustice.

That is where Holt hopes to step in.

She wants to use a law degree to work in areas where social injustice is taking place and the government is too corrupt to do anything about it.

People say, “What can I do?” or “How can I stop that?” she said. Those are the questions she wants to answer by being in a place where she can do something.

But it hasn’t been an easy road so far.

Getting here

Holt’s parents were heartbroken when she picked Liberty University in Virginia because they were petrified that she would regret not choosing a college that offered dance. After all, she had been dancing since she was 3.

One morning her father set an application on the kitchen table for a university in the Midwest. She laughed at him and threw it away.

But every single morning, it was back on the table.

And every single morning, she threw it away.

When her dad bought her a ticket to visit the college he thought was best, she went for the sole purpose of getting him off of her back.

When she came to Friends University in April 2003, she auditioned for ballet – and loved it. She couldn’t explain why, but she knew that it was where she was supposed to be.

Doubling up

Holt’s goal until she went to college was to be a dancer.

She wasn’t sure she would make it in the dance world, but she loved ballet and wasn’t going to give it up. And despite her new-found love of law just two years ago, she was a part of the ballet program all four years.

In order to double major in ballet and criminal justice, her course load quickly became demanding, skyrocketing from 15 ½ credit hours her freshman year -- the fewest she ever took -- to 23 almost a year later.

She said she is sad to graduate and doesn’t want to leave. But she is proud of earning two separate degrees.

Laced feet

For the upcoming spring ballet, Holt will dance in the corps of two pieces: “Concerto Barocco” and Shawn Stevens’ ballet to the music of Schubert. The ballet has three movements; the last will feature Holt in a big group piece.

When Holt dances, she makes you want to watch because she dances from her heart, said Megan McDonald, adjunct instructor.

“She definitely pays attention to technique, and she also has an incredible artistic quality that brings out a performing aspect,” McDonald said.

Holt brightens the stage, the classroom or wherever she is performing, McDonald said.

Standing out and standing up

Holt admits she has quirks, including being outspoken and obsessive about oral hygiene, usually brushing her teeth 15 to 20 times a day. And she said she wasn’t blessed with a timid nature. She will never be the graceful and gentle woman that Proverbs speaks of.

“I’m very outspoken,” she said.

But for some, that characteristic is to be respected.

“I love her straightforwardness,” McDonald said. “She’s incredibly opinionated, but in a friend, that is incredibly refreshing.”

Holt also said she wears her emotion on her sleeves. If she is angry she’ll yell, if she’s sad she’ll cry, and if she’s happy she’ll laugh and dance.

And fight.

“She is definitely called to be a fighter for people’s rights … because she stands up for the right thing in her personal life, too,” McDonald said.

Up next

Holt's biggest fear is not experiencing life – which in comparison to eternity is nothing, she said. But she wants to get the most out of it, and because of that, she doesn’t shy away from opportunities, she said.

Holt isn’t sure where she wants to end up. There are several law firms and organizations that “do the kind of work in the name of God” that she wants to do.

First, she has to gain experience, which she plans to do by becoming a criminal prosecutor because it is closely linked to what she wants to do eventually. Her top two choices for law school are Northeastern and Boston University.

But she plans to take time off next year.

Holt has been offered two different internship positions through African Evangelical Enterprise and can choose to go to South Africa or Kigali, Rwanda.

Her room and board would be paid for in South Africa, but her heart is more in Rwanda, she said.

But she’s not sure how God is going to get her there. She still has to find $3,000 for round-trip tickets, plus room and board, if she goes to Rwanda.

The country has so many orphans, she said.

One of the projects in Rwanda revolves around a group of boys who play the drums and girls who dance. She would like to help the children learn new forms of dance in addition to their cultural dance to make the project draw a larger crowd and bring in more money.

She also would like to explore the possibility of counseling street kids and widows, she said.

African Evangelical Enterprise gives flexibility to interns with little direction as far as what to do with the projects. However, Holt would like to develop the dance program, even into other areas.

“Once I get the money, somehow – this is where God comes in – that’s where I hope to be next year.”