Rachel McGlade: Straight Up Glorious
NEIRAD enilno edition
There are few people in the junior class able to cope with the stress of their academics with the same grace and humor of Rachel McGlade. Perhaps her obvious poise and wit came from her lifelong study of ballet or her intensive study of writing. Perhaps, Rachel was just born with it.
Rachel was born in Pennsylvania but moved to Miami early in her childhood. In December of 2001, when Rachel was in third grade, she moved to Darien and has lived here ever since. One thing that has traveled with her through her many moves is her love of dance, particularly ballet.
“When I moved to Darien from Miami, my mom was frantically searching for ballet schools and I took half a year off because we couldn’t find one right away and in that time I tried other activities but then I realized how much I loved ballet.”
A student of the arts since age three, Rachel found her niche in ballet. Today she studies at the Academy of Ballet Etudes in Norwalk, famous for its rigorous curriculum, dancing several hours nearly every day. Yet the thought of ever quitting ballet has never crossed Rachel’s mind. She says that she has been doing it for so long that she can’t not do it; ballet has become an important part of her life. “Ballet has taught me a lot of things but mostly to be really disciplined,” Rachel said.
The high intensity of her study forces Rachel to spend hours at the studio. She has formed many strong bonds with her “studio family.” Once an injury required Rachel to take a month off from dance and the period was definitely a difficult adjustment. “It was weird not going to the studio every day,” Rachel said. Clearly, her hard work and dedication has paid off. Junior and close personal friend Alexandra Ashcraft, said, “Rachel is a beauty on the dance floor. She truly shines.”
Another passion of Rachel’s is Jake and Amir, the online comedy duo. The two twenty-somethings have been working for College Humor, a New York based Web site, creating videos since their own college days. She often jokes (and sometimes states as cold hard fact) that she’s going to marry Amir later in life. “Straight up love them, they’re hilarious and they’re babes!” said Rachel when asked about her feelings for them. Inspired by Amir, Rachel even says she “eats a sheesh-load of chicken nuggets every day.” A few things that have led to Rachel’s respect for Jake and Amir are their style of humor; they act dumb yet they’re actually smart and more importantly for Rachel, they write all of their own material.
Rachel herself is an aspiring writer. Prior to this past summer, writing was just a beloved hobby, but after a three-week creative writing program at Columbia University in New York, Rachel knew that writing was what she wanted to do in life.
For her Advanced Composition class this year, Rachel has even written an essay about Jake and Amir, which she e-mailed to them and actually received a reply, in turn provoking Rachel to make a lot of noise, something she does often. She plans to use her captivating sense of humor to follow in Jake and Amir’s footsteps. Already her friends and teachers have recognized her talent. Advanced Composition teacher Mr. Doug Paulsen calls Rachel “engaged, diligent and witty,” while junior Eleanor Palmer says Rachel is “really smart, she’s an ace and always makes me laugh at her funny stories.”
One such story came on a ski trip of Rachel’s. “When I was probably like 9-ish my family and I went to Colorado for skiing. (My dad says I was pretty good at it but I don't really ski anymore because I have knee problems from ballet, but I used to really like it.) I was with one of my friends and our parents were off doing their own thing so we were going to get on the chairlift and go up and ski. We were starting to moving up and then I realized my friend hadn't gotten on the lift. The smart thing to do would have been to just stay on it and wait for her at the top, but I was nine and even my fifth grade teacher had told me I lacked common sense. However, I looked down at the powdery snow and decided "hey why not" and jumped off the chair lift. Of course, this caused commotion, like a sheesh load. People started flipping out, the guy working the chair lift stopped it and ran over to make sure I wasn't broken... which I wasn't."
"Parents told their kids to stay still and rushed over, watching the little navy blue thing spiral from mid air towards the ground. I personally had found it fun, definitely just as exciting, if not more, than skiing and was considering going for another round. The man started asking me where my parents were, but I’m pretty sure my friend had already run to get them. My dad came over, and knelt down beside me. I was fine but I think my ski gear was weighing me down and I couldn't get up because of it. Either way he helped me up and turned towards the guy that worked the chair lift and apologized for my erratic behavior, not that it was extremely unexpected. Needless to say, I stayed off the lifts the rest of the day.”
Despite this near-death experience, Rachel is still alive and already using her many talents to make an impact on the world. She co-founded the Eco-Citizens club and is currently co-president with juniors Emma Tuzinkiewicz, Amanda Dobler and Catherine Becker. “Rachel’s motivation and enthusiasm towards helping our environment attributes to the early success of the Eco-Citizens club. She is fun to work with and is always thinking of new project ideas for our club to take on,” Tuzinkiewicz said. Rachel says the club is trying to promote sustainability locally and globally as well as to promote recycling at DHS. (For more information on Eco-Citizens see a feature in the November issue of Neirad Enilno.)
While Rachel’s numerous extracurricular activities contribute to her personality, one cannot discuss Rachel McGlade without describing her hair. Rachel is lucky enough to be among the few blessed with red hair and inspires envy from all who look upon it. Rachel says it’s all natural but has no idea how it came to be. She jokes, “My mom doesn’t have red hair, my dad doesn’t have red hair, and my brother has brown hair. They thought they had a mutant child.” Junior Maddy Gill says, “Rachel’s red hair is as fiery as her personality.”
Even with her busy schedule and numerous commitments, Rachel still finds time for normal high school activities, like watching TV. Her two favorite shows are “The Office” and “Gossip Girl.” Rachel loves “The Office” because “all the characters are so over the top with their little quirky personalities, it’s great!” “Gossip Girl” is also a guilty pleasure of Rachel’s. Just looking at her, you can tell Rachel has style, something she says is inspired by the fantastic clothes on the show. While Rachel likes Serena’s clothes the best, she admires Chuck and Dan the most as characters. “People think the show is just about gossip and rich teenagers, but it deals with some really important issues that I think a lot of teenagers have to deal with.”
With all of Rachel’s valuable qualities, there is one that encompasses them all. She doesn’t just talk the talk, she walks the walk. If there is something Rachel is passionate about, she will put all her effort into it. Whether it’s Eco-Citizens, ballet, writing or her schoolwork, Rachel will strive to do her best. As junior Hannah Nolte said, “Rachel McGlade is a babe. Her indomitable spirit and cheerful disposition attract my deepest admiration. I only wish I could be so gloriously lovely.”
