While most students spend their winter break celebrating the holidays with their family, senior Emily Hess traveled all the way to London to participate in the London New Year’s Day Parade.

Traveling as part of the Varsity All-American Dance Team, hosted by the Universal Dance Association, gave Hess and others a chance to represent the best dancers of the country.

Being in London also gave Hess a great opportunity to visit the local hotspots.

“I went to the Tower of London, saw Wicked, went on a night cruise, visited Westminster Castle as well as St. Paul’s Cathedral and did lots of shopping,” Hess said.

What she did not know was who exactly she would be dancing with, as tryouts took place all over the U.S.

“I didn’t know anyone there at all. This was my first time meeting them,” Hess said.

The LNYDP featured many different groups not only from London but around the world as well. A variety of groups showcasing different talents were viewed by thousands of people.

“It was crazy and hectic. I felt like it went by really fast because we were towards the front of the line, but it was lots of fun and there were a lot of people,” Hess said.

Many locals were fascinated by the team and its skills, asking for pictures with the girls at the end of the parade.

“Afterwards everyone wanted our picture. It was like my 15 minutes of fame, and it was awesome,” Hess said.

Compared to the different parades seen on American television, Hess feels like both parades share many similarities as well as differences.

“I feel like television networks make parades seem a lot bigger than they really are. There were a lot of people there and it wasn’t small by any means. There were people there from all around the world, so it was cool,” Hess said.

While Hess was gone in London, the rest of the De Soto High School Diamond Dance team came up with a plan to surprise Hess when she returned to Kansas.

“It was Sydney Webb’s idea, she texted us all except Emily saying we should surprise her at the airport and we all thought it was a great idea,” senior Gabby Stephens said.

The group put in a lot of effort in order to really surprise their teammate.

“Basically we all decided a few weeks before she came back from London that we were going to go and surprise her because we all really missed her. We decided to make signs a few hours before we left. We made a big one that said ‘Welcome Home Emily’ and then went to the airport. She wasn’t expecting it at all. The first people she saw were her family. When she saw us she ran towards us and started crying and hugging us all, it was the cutest thing I’ve seen,” Webb said.