New Year, 2013! Let's Make Things Happen!

    2013 is finally here which means only 4 more months and 1.5 terms left until Graduation.  I just finished filling out my Graduation information, scheduling my Senior Graduation portraits, and am in the process of clearing all my required courses for both of my majors with the Dance and Biology Chairpersons.  I have also decided that I will walk with the Dance Dept. for Graduation as opposed to Biology, just because it was my initial major and decision for coming to Mercyhurst in the first place.  Although leaving college is scary thought, I'm actually very excited to get started on my life after Mercyhurst.  Mercyhurst provided me with a lot of essential skills and knowledge that I know will prepare me in my life.  I have applied for the job in Boston over the summer with the Boston Ballet as a Residential Counselor and am waiting back to here from them.  Hopefully more jobs will present themselves as I begin to send out my promotional packets and audition for companies.
    You are probably wondering, what about med school?  Well, it's true what they say about the MCATs.  They can make you or break you, and unfortunately they broke me.  They were the only flaw in my applications and seem to be the one thing turning me away from med school.  But med school is still definitely in my future.  I just plan to take a year or two off to figure out my dreams in dance and take a MCAT prep course so that the next time I take them, I will be completely ready and won't just be wasting money.
    I'm headed back to Erie on Sunday to continue the rest of my work for Winter Term and to return back to reality after the Holiday Season!

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!

   

Website Completed! Fall Term 2012...Check!

    So after weeks of stress and anxiety, my professional promotional website is finally up and running! Be sure to check it out at:
http://emcdon36.wix.com/eileen-mcdonnell#!home/mainPage
It includes a biography, resume, photo gallery, performance DVD, and more information for further contact. After all the hard work, I am very pleased on how it all came out :) Please spread it around especially to potential employers!
    Well it is finally coming to an end, my Final Fall term at Mercyhurst.  With only one paper, presentation, and final left, I am very excited to finish up this term.  This past Thursday along with publishing our promotional websites, we had to hand-in our group project report on the current issues surrounding the arts. My partner and I had to discuss how technology is affecting the arts as our topic.  Although we didn't completely finish our paper until 3 am the night before because we had to format two papers into one essentially, I think our report came out fairly well.  And along with our paper, we have to do a group presentation Wednesday. Hopefully we will prepare properly and everything will go smoothly.
    As I am writing this post currently, I am also editing my paper for World Geography and studying for the final simultaneously. Oh, and I'm also watching Charlie St. Cloud...yes, I know procrastinating, but considering I'm not going out tonight like the rest of my roommates, I get to slack off a little. Can't wait for Wednesday to head home and see friends and family!

One Last Week!

  Well Fall Term 2012 is finally coming to a close which means the amount of work due in this last week is enormous!  Papers, projects, presentations, and finals are all causing some extreme stress and anxiety for me.  Dance finals start at the beginning of this week which is the least stressful task of all of my work.  Having had to perform my dance finals every term for the past three years, I seldom get nervous for them anymore.  However, the rest of my week consists of an Honors Presentation, a 10 page paper, a 5 page analysis, a 20 minute Presentation, a project, a website to construct, a DVD to make, a conference, and one academic final.  Oh and also add in there two rehearsals and a lecture demonstration performance on Friday.  I just have so much work to finish before I can finally say goodbye to this Fall Term.  I am very anxious to see how my dance performance DVD that I had specially made by a professional came out.  It should arrive here tomorrow so I will be able to post my website for you all to see with a lot of my work towards my dance career shown on it, including my DVD, photos, and resume.  So you should check it out when it's finished!
  Hopefully I can just remember to just breathe for the next week or so.  I am very excited to the Thanksgiving Break because I get to see my family and friends and have time to relax, but I what I'm most excited for is my 21st Birthday on the 23rd :) Black Friday.  Cannot wait to celebrate!