By Kristen Walsh
Kyrsten Arnold first became interested in Bentley when she participated in a case competition on campus during high school. She fell in love with the campus and the faculty — and set her sights on applying. But there was one thing weighing on Arnold’s mind: student clubs and organizations. Namely, a hip-hop dance team. It turns out, though, that she didn’t have much to worry about.
“I had been dancing for about four years and I knew that I wanted to continue to do so in college,” she recalls. “When I was searching through Bentley’s website, I couldn’t believe the diversity and amount of cultural, academic and arts clubs and organizations on campus. I didn’t expect a small business school to have so many!”
From there it got better. Arnold says her “jaw definitely dropped” when she found Bentley’s CRAZE hip hop crew. The YouTube videos of past performances that she viewed “were amazing.” And when she ended up enrolling at Bentley and joining CRAZE, she says: “The rest is history.”
The history is defined by countless connections among fellow dance team members and performances well-known in the Greater Boston area.
“I probably would have never met or become friends with a lot of these people if I wasn’t on CRAZE,” Arnold says. “There’s nothing like being on stage with a bunch of people who you know have your back and believe in you. We all do the moves bigger and fiercer than we’ve ever done in practice because this is the moment we’ve been waiting for. None of us waste it.”
The range of the dance moves mimics the diverse personalities of the people performing.
“We have members that are in Greek Life, the Association of Latino Professionals for America, and on sports teams such as field hockey, just to name a few. We all have different majors such as Marketing, Accounting, and for me, Media and Culture. But I love that we all have this one thing in common that brings us together.”
When she’s not dancing, Arnold is likely hitting the books. “My coursework at Bentley is challenging,” she says. “But clubs and organizations give students a way to de-stress and do something that they are passionate about. It’s also a great way to get leadership opportunities by serving on an executive board.”
And the thrill of performing also takes Arnold’s mind off her school work. “The stage is surreal and something I will never get used to. Butterflies fill my stomach, but I just use it to fuel my performance. Then, at the end, I’m tired and sweating but I know I left my heart on the stage. There’s nothing like it.”
