Brookelyn grew up in a big family on the south side of Indianapolis.

"I have three older brothers, an older sister, and a younger sister," she says.

Crazy but fun is how she describes her upbringing. And there was always someone there to support her dance career, which started early.

"I was probably five," she says. "I remember my mom asking me which class I wanted to take and she said, 'Ballet, tap, jazz…' and as soon as she said jazz, the first thing I thought of was Aladdin and Jasmine. For some reason, I thought jazz would be about Jasmine or something."

She went with jazz. And it started a lifelong love of dance.

"Starting my freshman year of high school, I worked at my studio to pay for all my dance classes," she says. "I was there every day, Monday through Sunday, every night, weekends, breaks, doing as much as I could just to get everything paid for."

The life lessons she learned were free.

"My studio director was a big role model for me," Brookelyn says. "She was hard on me, but in a good way – just taught me to really value hard work, value a dollar, and if you want it bad enough, you can do it kind of mentality."

Teaching dance classes eventually led to a career in teaching.

"I realized I really liked being with kids, I liked being in front, I liked creating lesson plans, and I'm really kind of weird – I love a schedule," she says. "I know people think, 'Oh, teaching is so boring to do the same thing three or four times a day,' but I love it. I get better at it as the day goes on and I like knowing exactly what I'm going to be doing each day."

She started teaching middle school students and was regularly mistaken as a student herself.

"On jean Fridays, that was the worst. When I wear jeans and a sweatshirt, I really look like a kid."

Brookelyn now teaches freshman and sophomore English and what she appreciates most about working with young people is their honesty and humor.

"I love that they are always thinking of new things. In my classroom, I always tell my kids, 'I don't know everything.' And so, I really enjoy kids kind of giving their interpretations and having conversations. I don't normally just lecture."

A three-year veteran of the Colts Cheerleaders, Brookelyn is also an assistant coach for the school's dance team. Just like growing up, she's busy every night. And just like then, it's worth it.

"I just love it that I can use my studio and my college and I use the Colts, everything that I've learned I try to pass on to my high schoolers now and kind of tell them that it's not always going to be easy and it can be really tough, but you've just got to push through."

The life lessons Brookelyn learned early on, she's now passing on to the next generation – in hopes that one day she'll be sitting in the stands watching them perform on the field.