Little Catherine is growing up...but only by a little

Happy New Year fabulous people!  I hope you enjoyed my Ireland video and are ready for some fresh blogging.  I can’t believe it’s 2012 now.  I have overcome so much in the past year and this new year feels like a fresh and exciting start.  My diabetes is now sufficiently caged, like a wild animal.  Sometimes it still sneaks out but I usually find it and attack it with a rolled up newspaper before it pees all over my apartment.  My horrible injury and surgery are now fully healed.  I’ve been in pain for so long that I’ve forgotten what it feels like to be pain free.  Let me tell you, it’s amazing.  My company, Arova Contemporary Ballet, has begun rehearsals for The Snow Queen which I am so excited about.  We had our first company class of the new year yesterday and besides a few pounds I collected from my love affair with shortbread, I feel like my technique hasn’t skipped a beat.  

The most important exciting thing is that I am going back to school!  TODAY!  In a few hours!  Gosh, I’ve got to stop working myself up like that.  Anyways, I will be going to the University of Alabama at Birmingham, forever known as UAB because I’m too lazy to write it out every time.  Many, if not all ballet dancers are always involved in outside jobs to supplement the small income they receive from dance.  Other dancers go to school as well.  We are still devoted to our art but we need to think about the future as well.  So it feels a little funny to have two lives but in the long run it’s beneficial to have a second career waiting in the wings for when my feet tire of pointe shoes.  

Me!  Aren't I cute?

What will I be getting my masters in you ask?  Nursing!  I’ll be working on an accelerated program for those who don’t have a bachelors in nursing.  Perfect for me as I have my bachelors in dance!  I have one year of foundational courses then another year of nursing classes and then 2-3 years of the masters portion.  It’s going to be a wee bit long but absolutely worth it.  

I have always wanted to be a doctor ever since I wanted to be a dancer but I knew that dance was time sensitive so I began that career first.  I bought medical textbooks for fun and when I took clinical anatomy at University of Calgary in Canada (which they’re making me redo as it didn’t transfer, sigh) I adored learning about the human body and running about in my lab coat. Medicine was always a dream that floated around in my head but I couldn’t figure out how to make it come true.  The dream was almost too elusive for me to grasp while also having a thriving dance career.  I watched an old friend of mine currently in med school struggle with all of the behind the scenes difficulties (ie. insurance, drug companies) with being a doctor and it made me question if this was the right career for me.  I would never knock doctors at all.  As a matter of fact one of my favorite doctors back in Canada listens to me, works with me and doesn’t have an ego the size of jupiter.  I know that there are great doctors out there but was being a doctor the best path for me to help in the way I wanted?

Who says I have to grow up!

I thought back to all of the medical professionals that have helped me with my journey in diabetes and realized, that those who were there for me and truly helped me were the nurses.  All well educated, brilliant, empathetic, think outside the box people that I have a lot of respect for.  I never wanted to be a walking prescription pad, I wanted to color outside the lines a little to help those who really need it.  I will be specializing in pediatrics and would love to help children with diabetes achieve their dreams.

When I attended DTreat Tampa (diabetes camp for 18-25 year olds) this summer I was full of joy and leaned over to my friend who happens to be a nurse.  I told her “Once I can’t dance, I want my second job to be like Dtreat every day!  I want to spend my day with amazing diabetics.  What should I do?”  She smiled and said “Go into nursing”  That clinched it!

Not to worry I will still be a diabetic ballerina for a long time to come.  I just want to get this degree underway and be proactive about my future.  I guess I’m growing up...just a little!

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