When walking by her in the hallway, her poofy swing dresses and unique sense of style may catch student’s eyes as the sound of her high heeled shoes click down the stairs. The outfits she wears may be considered different, but Junior Erin Butler wears her old-fashioned dresses to help showcase her identity for everyone to see.

“I got my first idea for my dresses when I was in a swing dance group,” Erin said. “That’s when I received my first swing dance dress, and I fell in love. It matched my personality so well, and I fell in love with them because they were so flowy and poofy.”

Erin orders most of her dresses on the internet, and has been building her dress collection since Freshman year, but has only been consistently wearing them since the beginning of her sophomore year, and she now has a total of about 30 dresses. She loves finding inspiration online, searching for new styles and outfits before she buys her new dresses. Though she does not make her own dresses at this point in time, she hopes to someday be able to.

Erin moved to Fort Wayne this year, and joined the Carroll show choir. When she learned that Carroll had a show choir, she jumped at the chance to audition. Previously, she lived in Pittsboro, and drove to Carroll last year in order to audition for the show choir.

“When I heard there was a show choir, I was so excited,” Erin said. “There wasn’t one at my old school, so I jumped at the chance to audition.”

Erin is now part of Minstrel Magic, which is now preparing for the upcoming season starting in January. When Erin first auditioned, she said it was very nerve-wracking, but she was excited for a new experience, and is happy that she gets the opportunity to sing with Minstrel. Right now, Erin is happy with her decision to join show choir, and loves the family environment that the choirs have.

“Show choir is completely different than anything I’ve done before,” Erin said. “The show choir combines all of my passions into one thing.”

Erin not only enjoys singing in show choir, but also loves dancing and acting. When on stage, Erin loves to be able to showcase many different emotions, to create something new. She loves Broadway, and hopes to continue acting through high school.

This year, Erin is playing Mary Poppins in the school’s fall musical.

“I’m definitely very happy and shocked about getting this role, it is the biggest one I have ever had and I hope I can do it justice.” said Erin.

Her busy schedule may keep her on her toes, and the intensity of show choir may be intimidating, but Erin has such a passion for singing that she won’t falter.

“Singing is my home,” Erin said. “It always will be.”