It has been a LONG time since I wrote a blog post, but for some reason it feels like two seconds ago since writing my last one. Shockingly (or maybe not shocking at all) four years has flown by.

I had been wanting to pick back up for sometime now but I wasn't sure where to "Begin Again" — quick nod to just about every dancer in the school's favorite singer, Taylor Swift, as well as one of mine. But I will tell you what has got me blogging again, St. Patrick's Day, and the quick approach to the World Championships.

The hustle and bustle of being an Irish dancer during the month of March is truly something special. This year all our dancers participated in our first ever Class Feis and a week later joined us in celebrating the culture behind our sport at the Worcester St. Patrick's Day Parade. Along with these all school events, dancers in our Oireachtas Team (aka Regionals Team) performed at 18 different celebrations — everywhere from community dinners, to breweries, to parties, to preschools, nursing homes, to even a local hospital. And as Kylie Kelce's podcast's name "Not Gonna Lie" its extremely exhausting to orchestrate our version of March Madness.

All that being said, I felt it was perfectly fitting to bring back the blog during this crazy month, because if you know me well you know I function the best when I am busy; hence why I just had my third child, Molly, and felt it was time to start writing again.

As I reflect on the busy month of March I quite literally tear up. Although it may be the postpartum hormones, but it truly is special to see all our dancers and their family together. We are lucky to see them all during their weekly

classes but seeing them all in one place for the parade is almost like a reunion; it doesn't happen very often but when it does memories are made. We are often told that Parade Day is one of our dancer's favorite day of the year, and we know why. The fun, the music, the friendships, the crowds, the performance — I truly think it is the same feeling dancers have when performing on stage for Riverdance.

Whether our dancers are dancing on the float, performing their steps in lines, or being pushed in a stroller or wagon, everyone truly feels like a star. Making it to the end of the parade is never easy. It takes grit, perseverance, a lot of stamina, and our dancers manage to do it all with smiles on their faces.

My favorite part of performing during St. Patrick's Day is the audience. Seeing their faces light up during each number is truly something special. The choreography that goes into creating each dance and choosing each song can often be overlooked, but the feeling you get from the audience when it comes together onstage is what keeps us going, and leaves us longing for the St. Patrick's Day season to never end.

As we close the book on St. Patrick's Day 2026, I think back on one of the latest TikTok trends (I say this but I haven't download the app in hopes to prevent more doom scrolling) In 2016, there was no Murphy Academy. It was only merely a thought of could I do this? Which I knew I could do it but I guess it was more of an "am I actually going to create this". "This" being a school that created a community of dancers and families that LOVE Irish Dance. Whether that be once a week, three+ times a week, traveling to feisanna, performing in the parade, dancing in the show — which has now become a production that was never on my Bingo card and I can explain more in a future blog post, but none the less I did it and it really isn't an "I" its a we because there would no longer be a Murphy Academy if it wasn't for Elizabeth and Erin, and our entire dance family that continues to support this vision that was just a thought in 2016 and has become much bigger than I could have ever dreamed.