What what!
Please excuse the dreadful subject, but alas, I could not think of anything better to write!
This weekend was the recital! My last one :( Very sad times, indeed. I was surprized, because I actually cried saying goodbye to Kate and Meghan.. I usually have a hard time crying in public, even I am really sad, but I came dreadfully close to bawling at the end there. I'm slighlty consoled by the fact that my name will be on the program book for all time, but still... For those non-Irish dancers, the Gray school gives out a scholarship for our senior dancers every year. They use to split it, but they've started to give it out in increments based on *shrugs* essays, dancing and academics? Regardless on how they choose, I won the largest amount. My *shrugs* above comes from the fact that even based on all those 3 areas, I shouldn't have won. Still, I'm not complaining! :) I have to write a very nice thank you note to my teachers now!
After thoroughly terrifying a waiter in Newtown, we went to East Lyme the next day to help with the smaller recital there. I was in charge of the "Teddy Bears" and they were adorable. They took great happiness in noting that my dress was "fuzzy" like their ears in places. Oh I laughed...
Anyways, moral of the story, people were asking for my essay, so hurr it is! Rereading it, there are some awkward and repetitive word choices, but ah well. Enjoy it nonetheless!
A Dancing Engineer
About eight years ago at the New England Oireachtas, a team of ten year old girls sat in the hallway of the Framingham Sheraton. The crowds were immense, pushing the girls out of the room they were to dance in. They sat contently, though squished and nervous. To relieve the tension, they decided to sing. Before long, the girls’ voices echoed through the hallway. “We are family,” they sang, dancing now too, “I’ve got all my sisters with me!” Hours later, the same girls jumped and hugged each other on the 2nd place box. Seven years later, the same girls cheered each other on as each dancer reached new heights individually. I will never forget the cheer that erupted when the announcer called my number. My placement itself created a wide smile, but the support behind it turned my grin impossibly large. My trophies may tarnish and even my pictures may fade, but the sense of community, self-fulfillment and love for Irish dancing that those girls instilled in me will remain forever and weave its way into every part of my life.
Collectively, Irish dance has taught me more about life than any class or any one person. It has taught me poise and self-control, and about politics, science and history. It has taught me how to push myself further than believed physically possible. It has taught me how to win and how to lose, how to elate when years of training pays off and how to express disappointment when my heart is crushed. It has taught me how to work as a team and how to create a team bond stronger than any chemical one. Though I end my formal dancing career at the end of this school year, I will continue to be a dancer. And, while my major of chemical engineering may not appear to lend itself well to dancing, I plan to bring dancing into every aspect of chemical engineering.
A connection between dancing and chemical engineering may seem impossible at first glance. After all, Irish dance is a fluid art while engineering is a strict science. To find the connections, one must delve deeply into the fundamentals of both areas. Engineering, at its core is the application of theoretical sciences to find efficient, practical uses. Irish dancing is the application of traditional, theoretical technique to find beautiful movement, highlighting the dancer’s attributes and minimizing the dancer’s faults. So, at the core, engineering and Irish dancing are not too different. It’s not too much of a stretch, then, to imagine that dancing could have a valuable influence upon my career as an engineer.
For example, dancing has taught me to never give up, even when poor feis results shattered my dreams. I have had far too many feisenna in which, even though I practiced for months and put my full heart into my dancing on stage, I did not succeed. Those competitions, while painful memories, are the ones that made me a better dancer and a better person. When my number was not called as a recalled dancer, I had many choices. I could start crying in the room and then run to sulk in my room for the day’s remainder. I could become annoyed and angry, lashing out at those around me. Or, I could accept the disappointment, take a moment to have a small cry alone, and return to support my friends. I always returned to support my friends, determined to be up there myself the next time. These moments allowed me to see that disappointments can and will happen, regardless of my personal effort. I simply need to keep pushing and keep holding onto my dreams because eventually they will come true. Engineering is a difficult major. I know there will be tests that, even though I studied for days, I will not succeed on. However, if I get caught up on that test and never move on to conquer the next, I will never be a successful engineer. Therefore, remembering the disappointments I toiled through in dance will remind me to keep pushing through the difficult times in engineering and eventually make me a much better engineer.
Of course, dancing does not instantly create a good engineer. One must have the knowledge, background, and the passion to work with applied sciences to be a good engineer. However, dancing can make a good engineer great. It contains all the creativity, drive and self-motivation needed to find success. Also, it supplies lifelong support that will push me through even the most complex theories. Just as my dancing would be nothing without the support of that team of curly haired girls, I cannot succeed in engineering without the self-confidence they have given me for ten years. Therefore, I plan to bring my Irish Dancing into the engineering labs. Don’t worry, though, I promise I won’t dance around any dangerous chemicals too often.
This weekend was the recital! My last one :( Very sad times, indeed. I was surprized, because I actually cried saying goodbye to Kate and Meghan.. I usually have a hard time crying in public, even I am really sad, but I came dreadfully close to bawling at the end there. I'm slighlty consoled by the fact that my name will be on the program book for all time, but still... For those non-Irish dancers, the Gray school gives out a scholarship for our senior dancers every year. They use to split it, but they've started to give it out in increments based on *shrugs* essays, dancing and academics? Regardless on how they choose, I won the largest amount. My *shrugs* above comes from the fact that even based on all those 3 areas, I shouldn't have won. Still, I'm not complaining! :) I have to write a very nice thank you note to my teachers now!
After thoroughly terrifying a waiter in Newtown, we went to East Lyme the next day to help with the smaller recital there. I was in charge of the "Teddy Bears" and they were adorable. They took great happiness in noting that my dress was "fuzzy" like their ears in places. Oh I laughed...
Anyways, moral of the story, people were asking for my essay, so hurr it is! Rereading it, there are some awkward and repetitive word choices, but ah well. Enjoy it nonetheless!
A Dancing Engineer
About eight years ago at the New England Oireachtas, a team of ten year old girls sat in the hallway of the Framingham Sheraton. The crowds were immense, pushing the girls out of the room they were to dance in. They sat contently, though squished and nervous. To relieve the tension, they decided to sing. Before long, the girls’ voices echoed through the hallway. “We are family,” they sang, dancing now too, “I’ve got all my sisters with me!” Hours later, the same girls jumped and hugged each other on the 2nd place box. Seven years later, the same girls cheered each other on as each dancer reached new heights individually. I will never forget the cheer that erupted when the announcer called my number. My placement itself created a wide smile, but the support behind it turned my grin impossibly large. My trophies may tarnish and even my pictures may fade, but the sense of community, self-fulfillment and love for Irish dancing that those girls instilled in me will remain forever and weave its way into every part of my life.
Collectively, Irish dance has taught me more about life than any class or any one person. It has taught me poise and self-control, and about politics, science and history. It has taught me how to push myself further than believed physically possible. It has taught me how to win and how to lose, how to elate when years of training pays off and how to express disappointment when my heart is crushed. It has taught me how to work as a team and how to create a team bond stronger than any chemical one. Though I end my formal dancing career at the end of this school year, I will continue to be a dancer. And, while my major of chemical engineering may not appear to lend itself well to dancing, I plan to bring dancing into every aspect of chemical engineering.
A connection between dancing and chemical engineering may seem impossible at first glance. After all, Irish dance is a fluid art while engineering is a strict science. To find the connections, one must delve deeply into the fundamentals of both areas. Engineering, at its core is the application of theoretical sciences to find efficient, practical uses. Irish dancing is the application of traditional, theoretical technique to find beautiful movement, highlighting the dancer’s attributes and minimizing the dancer’s faults. So, at the core, engineering and Irish dancing are not too different. It’s not too much of a stretch, then, to imagine that dancing could have a valuable influence upon my career as an engineer.
For example, dancing has taught me to never give up, even when poor feis results shattered my dreams. I have had far too many feisenna in which, even though I practiced for months and put my full heart into my dancing on stage, I did not succeed. Those competitions, while painful memories, are the ones that made me a better dancer and a better person. When my number was not called as a recalled dancer, I had many choices. I could start crying in the room and then run to sulk in my room for the day’s remainder. I could become annoyed and angry, lashing out at those around me. Or, I could accept the disappointment, take a moment to have a small cry alone, and return to support my friends. I always returned to support my friends, determined to be up there myself the next time. These moments allowed me to see that disappointments can and will happen, regardless of my personal effort. I simply need to keep pushing and keep holding onto my dreams because eventually they will come true. Engineering is a difficult major. I know there will be tests that, even though I studied for days, I will not succeed on. However, if I get caught up on that test and never move on to conquer the next, I will never be a successful engineer. Therefore, remembering the disappointments I toiled through in dance will remind me to keep pushing through the difficult times in engineering and eventually make me a much better engineer.
Of course, dancing does not instantly create a good engineer. One must have the knowledge, background, and the passion to work with applied sciences to be a good engineer. However, dancing can make a good engineer great. It contains all the creativity, drive and self-motivation needed to find success. Also, it supplies lifelong support that will push me through even the most complex theories. Just as my dancing would be nothing without the support of that team of curly haired girls, I cannot succeed in engineering without the self-confidence they have given me for ten years. Therefore, I plan to bring my Irish Dancing into the engineering labs. Don’t worry, though, I promise I won’t dance around any dangerous chemicals too often.