This week’s Campus Celebrity is the one and only Mary Scheck! You have probably seen Mary around campus, but how much do you really know about this year’s Dance Marathon Morale Director? Well, I got the chance to sit down and hang out with Mary this week and I learned some pretty cool things!
Mary hails from the Chicago suburbs, calling Lake Zurich, Illinois home. She is a psychology major here at St. Ambrose and is also a first year student in the Occupational Therapy program. Mary’s dream job is to become a Pediatric Occupational Therapist because she loves working with kids.
If you were a potential student in the past two years, you may have met Mary before you even started here! She used to work for the SAU Admissions office as a tour guide and Admissions Ambassador and though she may have had to let those go because of other campus obligations, she still serves as a STAR ambassador and helps welcome all of the freshmen to campus during Fall Orientation.
Currently, Mary is a Resident Advisor for sophomore girls in Franklin Hall and she does not hesitate to start gushing about her residents. As she says, “They’re so sassy and I love it.” She also served the role as this year’s Morale Director for SAU’s Dance Marathon (an annual philanthrapy event that raised a whopping $132,148 for the Iowa City Children’s Miracle Network Hospital!). Mary was responsible for 21 Morale Captains who were in charge of a total of nearly 700 dancers.
Her love affair with DM started her freshman year when she attended the preview event. She said, “I fell in love with it and never looked back.” She went on to become a Morale Captain for last year’s first full length Dance Marathon and became the Morale Director this year. “I had no idea what I was getting myself into!” she said with a laugh as she thought about the impact that Dance Marathon has had on her life.
I asked her what is it about Dance Marathon that she loves so much and she said she loves it for two reasons. The first is that she loves seeing the families enjoying themselves at the event. The Miracle kiddos that are sponsored by our Dance Marathon are kids who have suffered or are suffering from a serious illness and have spent a significant amount of time in the Iowa City Children’s Hospital. The kiddos and their families have gone through so much and Dance Marathon is something they can attend and spend a whole day just having fun and enjoying their time together and with us Ambrose students. Mary’s second favorite part about DM is that she loves seeing first-time dancers fall in love with DM and the cause.
Not only is Mary keeping track of a floor full of sophomores and chasing after DM Miracle kiddos, she also nannies part-time off campus! She nannies for three kids ages 3, 8, and 10 and claims she is morphing into a soccer mom. “I’m a soccer mom! But I don’t fit in because I don’t drive a mini van and I don’t have a soccer sticker on my car.”
Some words of wisdom our Celebrity lives by are “Everything happens for a reason.” “It’s seriously true,” she said, “it’s my life mantra.” Another one of her favorite quotes was coined by her role model, YouTube sensation Kid President, who often says, “You’re awake. You’re alive. Be awesome.”
Want to learn some other fun facts about Mary Scheck?
1. If you have ever had a conversation with Mary, you are probably like me and think she’s one of the most outgoing people you’ve ever met, right? That was not always the case. “I was really, really shy in high school. And no one ever expects that. When I came here (SAU) for orientation, I said maybe five words.”
2. She is obsessed with fanny packs.
3. “I love cats! I’m totally a cat lady,” she claims. But all you dog lovers out there have nothing to fear because she loves dogs too! In fact, she frequently visits the local pet shops just so she can hold the puppies.