My first blog post!

Okay, so this is my very first blog post. Ever. I've never done anything much more than Facebooking and Tweeting, you know. The usual.

So... hi! Let's start with finding out who I am.

My name is Marie Sanderson. I'm 18 years old and am in my second semester of my first year of university. My major is dance and I'm pursuing two bachelor degrees: a Bachelor of Arts and a Bachelor of Education, with a minor in theatre, at the University of Regina. I'm still trying to get out of high school mode and become accustom to being on my own for the first time. I'm originally from Lac La Ronge, Saskatchewan but moved to Prince Albert for my high school years. I went to St. Mary High School, which I enjoyed greatly; partly because the teaching staff was excellent and helped me through the toughest years of my life, and partly because of the drama program I was completely infatuated with. I hope to return there someday as an intern or a teacher.

Getting more personal, I come from a family of six. My mother currently works within the Catholic school system in Prince Albert and my father stays at home watching over my twin 20-month old brothers. He is currently awaiting surgery. My 13-year-old sister anxiously awaits her high school debut and is one of my best friends. I wish her the best of luck in her future, and I'm afraid she's going to beat me as the "family nerd"! I have one kitty named Checkers and, quite frankly, just talking about everyone makes me miss home so much so I'll move on.

I moved to Regina to pursue dance education. I haven't been dancing for very long but my eagerness to learn has given me a lot of opportunities to explore the art. I've taken classes like ballet, jazz, lyrical, musical theatre, and contemporary at several studios, sometimes all at once. I've been trained at the Performing Arts Warehouse and Ballet N' All That Jazz in Prince Albert, the Birch Hills Dance Centre in Birch Hills, and the Assessippi Dance Camp in Manitoba. I'm currently taking ballet at the Youth Ballet Company of Saskatchewan in Regina. I had my first taste of teaching when I taught a 4-week dance camp in my hometown of La Ronge. I'd have to say that was the best summer of my life. The children, although none of them had any experience whatsoever, were wonderful! My background in theatre, which is my minor, runs deeper than dance but isn't as extensive. I've been involved in theatre since early childhood, both as acting and working backstage. I won't go in depth about my elementary experience, but my high school productions were really the highlight of my teenage years.

I'm currently at university on full scholarship. This is a very exciting, stressful time for me but I'm actually having a lot of fun experiencing what it's like to be a uni student living on campus. I have a few friends from Prince Albert here with me. We all try to become involved in this busy setting and I have become a member of different groups. I am a mentor for the Aboriginal Student Mentorship program, meaning I help Aboriginal high school students in their transition into post-secondary education. I'm also apart of the Canadian Federation of Students (CFS) as Saskatchewan's Artist Representative and a member of the Indigenous Students Association. This summer, I will be traveling to Australia as part of the International Student Volunteer program for wildlife conservation and to help restore lost habitat.

I think that's enough for the first post. I think you know more than enough about me now! See you soon!