After arriving at Illinois State University and saying goodbye to her family, Tia Mapp began settling into her dorm room in Watterson Towers. Being a college student suddenly felt real for the first time.
Mapp unpacked and found a place for items that nearly every freshman brings with them: clothes and bedding, a TV and refrigerator, school supplies and personal care items. She also unpacked an item most of her fellow classmates did not bring with them: ballet shoes.
“My mom always says I was adventurous as a kid, jumping off the couch and lifting things up and stuff,” Mapp said. “She said one day she couldn’t take it anymore and signed me up for gymnastics.”
About a year later, Mapp was introduced to dance, and it’s been a part of her life ever since. She’s done it all—ballet, tap, jazz, acrobatics, hip-hop, contemporary, and improv—and won plenty of awards for it (though she left most of those behind at her family’s Chicago home).
And Mapp won’t stop dancing now. She intends to minor in dance at Illinois State.
“Sometimes when I come home and I’m not in a great mood, I’ll just put my headphones on and start dancing,” she said. “I’ll just start choreographing stuff because it makes me feel free. I have a love for it.”
Dance has served as both an escape and a creative outlet for the Hyde Park Academy High School graduate. She more recently discovered passions for photography and graphic design through internships with Chicago Transit Authority and One Summer Chicago, respectively.
“I’m excited and a little nervous, too, but I’m just going to go for it. It’ll take some adjusting, but I feel like this is the right place for me.”
—Tia Mapp
She’ll major in graphic communications technology at Illinois State. “It’s different, and I want to be different from everybody,” Mapp explained. “I feel like when you’re different, you stand out.”
Mapp’s decision to attend Illinois State was an easy one after visiting campus in April and taking part in Preview, Illinois State’s freshman orientation program, in July.
“I just felt comfortable when I came to campus, and everyone around me was so helpful. I had never experienced anything like that before. The people here are so nice,” she said. “When I left, I wanted to come right back.”
Mapp is still adjusting to college life and being away from her family, which includes her twin sister. “We still FaceTime every day,” Mapp said of her twin. “But it’s kinda weird.”
Mapp has found comfort in fellow freshmen from her high school and acquaintances from the dance world, but she intends to “come out of (her) shell” by meeting new people, making new friends, and trying new things. She wants to get involved as much as she can on campus.
“I’m excited and a little nervous, too, but I’m just going to go for it,” she said. “It’ll take some adjusting, but I feel like this is the right place for me.”
Read about all of the students featured in our “Newest Redbirds” series at News.IllinoisState.edu.
