Four years ago, then-freshman Alex Klein decided to try something he had never done before when he was enticed by a group of students dancing and playing music at the fall activities fair. Now, Klein will finish his last semester as the president of PULSE.

Without prior dance experience, Klein said he felt lucky to avoid being cut after auditioning for his first dance.

“The only dance I knew how to do was the ‘Crank That’ dance in high school. That was my claim to fame,” Klein joked.

Since that audition, Klein has risen through the club’s ranks, first by becoming a choreographer, then serving as the vice president of finance during his junior year and finally being elected president as a senior.

“I wasn’t very good, but I kept doing it anyway. I kept improving and staying out of my comfort zone. I started by joining one dance and then each semester adding on to it,” Klein said. “I just tried to keep building on the skills I was learning.”

Sophomore and PULSE member Caitlyn Rome said Klein’s journey through PULSE serves as an inspiration to students who are nervous to join the club.

“He comes from having no dance background and knows that being in PULSE is scary for people who are nervous to perform or inexperienced,” Rome said. “He can reach people who would never have thought they could dance and brings them into the PULSE community.”

Klein’s duties include scheduling studio time on campus and coordinating schedules with all the choreographers. Sophomore and PULSE member Elliott Amenta commended Klein for his ability to go beyond his official duties and form lasting friendships with club members.

“He makes the effort to know everyone in the club and makes a personal connection with all of them,” Amenta said. “He desires everyone reach their fullest creative abilities in PULSE and will do anything to help others.”

Klein is choreographing his own dance this semester and participating in five or six other dances. He said seeing everything come together in the performances at the end of the semester makes it all worthwhile.

“Leading a club that I am passionate about and that made my college experience better makes all of the work worth it. I get to look at the show at the end of the semester and know that because of my leadership and being able to coordinate all of that together, that’s why that show happened,” Klein said.

Sophomore Kallie Larson works on the PULSE leadership board with Klein and thinks he not only fulfills his duties there, but also helps the other student leaders.

“As part of the E-board for PULSE, I give him a lot of credit for all of the effort he puts in to help us in each of our positions. His job as president requires a lot of commitment, and he definitely achieves all of that and more for PULSE,” Larson said.

Klein said he will support PULSE after he graduates by attending the shows at the end of each semester for as long as possible. He hopes the club will continue to encourage students to step outside their comfort zones like he was inspired to do.

“If you can go out on stage and dance in front of 500 people, if you’ve never danced before in your life, I think there’s not a whole lot you won’t be able to do after that,” Klein said.

Claire Noack can be reached at noac8702@stthomas.edu.