Homecoming, Performances, and Secondary Apps...Oh My!

   Homecoming is right around the corner, this weekend in fact, and the entire Mercyhurst campus can feel the spirit.  I am especially excited this year being a senior and getting to see a lot of my friends on Homecoming Court.  I am also very excited because my dad is coming to see me for our last Parents Weekend at Mercyhurst.  It seems like yesterday that he and my mom came to visit me on our first Parents Weekend when I was a freshman.  He will also get the chance to see me dance again in the Homecoming Performance in our PAC this Saturday night.  I'm dancing in a piece that SoMar Dance Works, the professional modern company affiliated with the Mercyhurst Dance Department in which I belong to, will be performing in late October in our Beyond Words II concert.  But since only my mom will be able to come see me dance then, I am excited my dad will be able to see me dance this weekend instead.  Coincidentally, his good friend from high school now has a daughter who is a freshman at Mercyhurst this year so he is looking forward to meeting up with him this weekend too.
   On the topic of dance and performance, I have officially booked my photo shoot for my senior dance photos that will be included in my audition materials, as well as my website I will be creating as part of my Senior Pro-Seminar class.  I think the website and pictures are a great way to get my face and credentials out into the dance world, but I just wish it wasn't so expensive!  The photo shoot alone costs over $100 plus the cost of prints of photos and resumes could run close to $300.  And I'm not even going to mention the audition fees that most companies charge to audition.  But I guess I should be used to fees like this.  After all, even in the midst of my application process for medical schools, I have already had to shovel out a great deal of money for application fees to schools.

 Photo Credit: Tyler Stauffer, Mark Fainstein, Tyler Stauffer

 In fact, just a few days ago, the American Association for Medical Colleges (AAMC) successfully verified my primary application for medical schools (Finally! It took over 6 weeks after I initially submitted my application.)  So after it was verified, a flood of secondary applications filled my email from a majority of the 17 schools I applied to this year.  Some I am still waiting on.  To add even more stress to my application process, my MCAT scores from my second time taking them are released tomorrow!  Talk about anxious!  The first time I took them, I did not do so well so I am really hoping to improve this time around...or else I may be in trouble :/  But in the mean time, I am going to start pushing forward with completing this boat-load of secondary apps to the best of my abilities and keep thinking positively about my future!