It's (finally) beginning to look a lot like Winter! Let It Snow!

      Well it finally happened.  No matter what your feelings are about the subject, there's no denying the delight of a White Christmas, the first one I have had since my Freshman year!  The frosty white snow that finally dropped around half a foot in my hometown between Christmas morning and two days afterward made staying at home much more enjoyable.  Got to go cross-country skiing, sleigh riding, snow shoeing and even simply got to walk through the Winter Wonderland.  So although the snow made digging my car out and plowing the streets a burden, it also allowed for some fun activities.

      Last weekend, the day before Christmas Eve, my boyfriend and I ventured out down to New York City to see the scene of the crazy shopping in Times Square and Rockefeller Center.  We do it every year together. We just go down to the city with no plans to hangout and see what we can find.  However, we always make it a point to take a picture with the Christmas Tree in Rockefeller Center.   This year we took the NBC Studios Tour and got to see the studios of SNL, Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, and even Dr. Oz's studio.  It was a great experience but next year we have already decided that we want to see a Rangers game and then stay and go to Saturday Night Live together.
      Even throughout the getaway of my Christmas break, I still have a lot of work to do in regards to my future.  I received more med school rejections which was definitely a disappointment but only makes me focus on my dance career even more.  I have a pretty decent list of companies I am going to audition and apply to.  Some of these companies include: Missouri Contemporary Ballet, Montgomery Ballet, Pennsylvania Classical Ballet, Eisenhower Dance Ensemble and many more.  I am also applying for a job as a Residential Counselor at Boston Ballet Summer Dance Program this summer.  Since I attended the Boston Ballet years ago and immediately fell in love with the city of Boston, I thought this job opportunity would be a perfect option for me.  The job pays for all my living conditions in Boston for five weeks and I get a weekly pay.  Also, an alum from Mercyhurst, and now a very good friend of mine, has been working there each summer and promised to send a recommendation for me which would be a great help.  Cross your fingers for me, I would love to get the job!   I intend to send in my materials in by the end of the week.

One Week Until Christmas!

With one week until Christmas, teachers have all scheduled their first tests right before the Break which starts Friday.  Good for me, I already got one of my tests out of the way and just have one more to get through this Friday.  So while trying to focus on my studies and start the Winter Term off right with a good solid grade, I also had to work 3 shifts at my job at the mall this weekend to help pay off some of my holiday spending and I am busy getting ready for the Dance Department's Winter Concert, Raw Edges, Feb 8-10, and also the Erie Festival of Dance, Jan 26th.  With rehearsals each night, stress felt from school and work, Christmas Break is going to be a nice time to relax and spend time with the family.  To help ease me into my break, and also help with the 6.5 hour drive home for Christmas this Friday, my brother is coming to visit this week!  We always have a good time together so having him here this week will be a nice push to get me through the week.

'Tis the Season...to be Dancing?

      Yes, 'Tis the Season! And I'm not just taking about Christmas shopping, caroling, and Santa.  But if you are a dancer during the Christmas Season, you probably have little time to enjoy the merriment because you are hard at work rehearsing for performances.  You don't have to be a dancer to know the story of The Nutcracker and that it is possibly the most frequently performed ballet in the world.  Students rehearse for months to prepare for the shows of  The Nutcracker.  Personally, my dance career originally grew up around The Nutcracker. From the age of six to eighteen, I participated in the local The Nutcracker production in my hometown for almost 13 years, growing through the roles from a tiny finale clown to the principal role of Dew Drop. Touring each year with the Albany Berkshire Ballet professional company since the young age of thirteen gave me an experience that transformed my career as a dancer.  Having the amazing experiences of touring each year, dancing in approximately 20-25 shows over a two month span, while also having to balance my high school curriculum laid the foundation for my future of what you see today: a dancer balancing my pre-Med studies.

One of my Dew Drop Performances my Senior Year of High School

Although Nutcracker has been known to dominate the stage during Christmastime, last night I got to experience a lovely performance by the Mercyhurst Dancers in their production of 'Tis the Season!  It was a greatly energetic performance filled with dancing toys, angels, and elves....lots and lots of elves!  Although not the traditional Nutcracker, 'Tis the Season! presented great choreography, music, and fun.  It is a great performance for anyone, especially those with little ones, to come to and share in the magic of Christmas! Great job to all my fellow Mercyhurst dancers!

Last Winter Term!

     Well, I successfully made it through my Senior Fall Term! Actually did very well too, managed too maintain my 4.0 GPA even through all the stress of applications, preparing audition materials, and my usual academic work.
    After a very relaxing and wonderful 10 day Thanksgiving Break, filled with my amazing 21st Birthday celebrations, I have returned to Mercyhurst for Winter Term.  Winter Term is usually the worst for me out of all 3 seasonal terms.  Not sure why that is, maybe the weather or the course work I tend to take, but nevertheless, I'm sure Winter with keep me on my toes.  Winter Term starts my audition process for dance companies that I have begun to research.  It's a scary thought that I really am starting to audition for a big girl job but at the same time it's very exciting!  I'm still very anxious and uneasy about the thought that next year I could literally be anywhere in the world!
    You are probably wondering what happened with my med school applications and plans.  As of now, the only thing I have heard back from schools are rejections and an application hold :( Although I still have many more to hear from, I'm starting to plan on the side that I may not be going to med school right away after undergrad.  I believe I may take a year or two off from school, dance in companies and teach, work in the medical field still, study and take an MCAT prep course so that I can take the MCATs again and hopefully do much better then.  My mediocre MCAT score was my only downfall in my application which makes me very frustrated because everything else was basically flawless, I had the grades, the experience, the extracurriculars, the leadership experience, and a diverse background to make me interesting to schools.  Although it is very frustrating to be rejected and told "No," at the same time this may turn out to be a good thing because this will give me the time to live out my dance dreams early enough in life before I may get too old or injured.  So looking at it from that perspective, the rejections may be a blessing in disguise :)
     I will still keep you posted as to what I hear back from med schools, but for now, I'm going to focus on auditioning as many places as I can to get the best shot at a dancing job.  I will also keep you posted on the dance companies I plan to audition for once I figure that out myself . But just to get my name and dancing out there to the world, here is my extended audition/performance DVD that shows highlights of various performances I have done over the past 4 years. Enjoy!