college

College...dare I speak the word?

I haven't posted much about college because if I did I'm pretty sure I would have exploded (or imploded... my dad says he would prefer I implode because it's less messy), but now the topic is unavoidable.

I am going to be a Mercyhurst Laker in the fall :)
**Don't ask me what a Laker is. I tried to have a logical conversation with my mom about it and she told me I was being too analytical (shocker, I know). **

Mercyhurst is a small, Catholic school in Erie, Pennsylvania with one of the best ballet programs in the United States. It didn't initially attract my attention because it is a small, Catholic school in the "middle of nowhere". However, visiting the school was all it took to convince me that those things in no way disqualified the potential the school had for me. I've never been in a class with more than 20 students ever. And usually, in both ballet and school, my class size is under 10. While I wouldn't mind going to large university, I'm almost positive that a small class dynamic is much more suited to my learning preferences. The Catholic title was initially a turn-off as well. However, Catholic or secular, I'll have to "fight" my battles with professors. They'll just be slightly different. And the students will be the same. Also, while a religion class is required, I can take a class on any religion I like. I might try Buddhism :) Finally the location is actually beneficial to me because it means I will be only a hour away from an amazing person who is attending Grove City in the fall and it's much closer to Maryland. So I should be able to come home on a more frequent basis.

I loved the college visit to Mercyhurst. I met with the director and she is one of those people that you just know will make the perfect ballet director. I can't exactly explain it, but everything about her just said: amazing, firm, dedicated women who can lead a program perfectly. The whole atmosphere of the dance program was very endearing. It reminded me a little bit of home. In fact, just enough to asure me that it would be a great home away from home. Also, I loved the teacher of the class I took. I'm really excited to get to learn more from him in the fall :) The school campus is not quite as astounding as Butler's, but it has a more gentle, realistic, weathered beauty about it. The academic structure of the school also allows me to double major in Engish. This is really beneficial to me because an English major opens a lot more doors in case ballet doesn't work out for any number of reasons.

So, what about Butler?
Well, prior to last summer I had no idea where I wanted to go college. I've always known that I wanted to be a ballerina, but I never had a particular path in mind and I don't think I ever will. That being said, I started to research good classical ballet schools. That alone brings the search to under 20 schools in the entire country. However, I felt like I didn't know enough about any of the schools to be able to realistically determine my top choices. My mom told to just pick one that looked nice. So Butler looked beautiful and I had always heard great things about it. It was the first good college visit I went on and so, naturally, I got excited about it. The school does have an amazing ballet program and getting accepted will definitely be beneficial for my resume. They also gave me some of the best scholarships they offer. Yet, Mercyhurst offered me a better package. I need to be realistic about the fact being ballerina and hopefully one day being a wife and mother means that I will never obtain a high income career. That doesn't bother me in any way, but it does mean that having a large amount of student loans just doesn't make sense for me. With Mercyhurst I'll still have a small amount of loan, almost no good college gives a full scholarship any more, but it will be much more manageable.

So, without futher ado, I leave you being personally in a much more peaceful state simply because I finally know what's happening to me next year. Resolution makes me so happy. I have no idea which Princess face my computer screen is being given right now, but it's whichever one has a big cheesy grin invovled :)