{"id":2896,"date":"2019-12-27T08:34:30","date_gmt":"2019-12-27T13:34:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/alumni\/?p=2896"},"modified":"2019-12-18T16:31:49","modified_gmt":"2019-12-18T21:31:49","slug":"get-to-know-mackenzie-m-17-nursing-cheering-and-helping-others","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/alumni\/2019\/12\/27\/get-to-know-mackenzie-m-17-nursing-cheering-and-helping-others\/","title":{"rendered":"Get to know: Mackenzie M. \u201917, nursing, cheering and helping others"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Mackenzie,
Mackenzie, center right, was on the Dance Team at Detroit Mercy. Today, she’s a nurse and a Detroit Lions cheerleader.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Mackenzie
Mackenzie says being a Detroit Lions cheerleader is a dream come true.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The roar of the crowd is amplified, the venue is larger, even the sport is different for University of Detroit Mercy dancer turned Detroit Lions cheerleader Mackenzie M. \u201917.<\/p>\n

But there\u2019s one thing in Mackenzie\u2019s life that has remained consistent \u2013 her passion for helping others.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy whole life, I have enjoyed helping people,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Mackenzie\u2019s passion for helping others started small \u2013 from assisting teachers in grade school to simply holding the door for someone in need \u2013 but blossomed during her time at Detroit Mercy where she was exposed to Jesuit and Mercy values. She now gives back through her community-involvement opportunities with the Detroit Lions and career as a nurse.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe value of service that Detroit Mercy really emphasizes helped me and helped mold my career as a nurse,\u201d Mackenzie said. \u201cI really make it a point in my career and daily life to serve our population. It\u2019s really important to me to help those who are less fortunate.\u201d<\/p>\n

Interest becomes career<\/strong><\/p>\n

Mackenzie\u2019s interest in nursing was piqued in high school through a medical careers program. Shadowing someone in the field for several hours per week in a hospital\u2019s birthing center and witnessing a cesarean section helped her know nursing is what she wanted to do, according to a Detroit Lions cheerleader spotlight video.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was able to go into the hospital and really see the impact that small things can have on people who are in vulnerable situations,\u201d Mackenzie said. \u201cThat really fueled my career as a nurse.\u201d<\/p>\n

Attending Detroit Mercy to study nursing just made sense for Mackenzie.<\/p>\n

She was quite familiar with the University\u2019s McAuley School of Nursing \u2013 several family friends had gone through the program and vouched for the quality of education Detroit Mercy offers. Small-class sizes offering individualized attention was another appealing trait in her journey from a student to professional.<\/p>\n

\u201cI knew nursing school would be tough, and having professors and classmates that I could connect with in smaller-class sizes was really appealing to me,\u201d Mackenzie said.<\/p>\n

Mackenzie graduated from Detroit Mercy in 2017 with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing and now works as a registered labor and delivery nurse in the birthing center of a local hospital. She works with pregnant women admitted into the hospital, guides new mothers through labor and takes care of their newborns.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy favorite thing about my job is getting to bring new life into this world,\u201d Mackenzie said. \u201cThat is definitely a one-of-a-kind experience, and being part of peoples\u2019 birth journeys and labor experiences is really, really special to me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lifelong love to a \u2018dream come true\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n

Dance has been a fixture in Mackenzie\u2019s life since she was 3. She started with tap dance and danced through high school, according to a Detroit Lions cheerleading spotlight video. After high school, Mackenzie continued to be involved in dance, spending her entire collegiate career as a member of Detroit Mercy\u2019s dance team.<\/p>\n

Sporting the Titans\u2019 red, white and blue, Mackenzie cheered on the University\u2019s men\u2019s and women\u2019s basketball teams and performed routines for the Calihan Hall crowds from 2013-17. She formed lasting relationships with teammates and coaches throughout those four years, and looks back on Detroit Mercy\u2019s Homecoming basketball games with fondness.<\/p>\n

Most of all, though, she\u2019s grateful for the opportunity to continue dancing throughout college.<\/p>\n

\u201cI danced my whole life and I was really lucky to continue that in college,\u201d Mackenzie said.<\/p>\n

But Mackenzie\u2019s journey with the performing art and sports wasn\u2019t about to end at Detroit Mercy. The four years she spent performing along Calihan Hall\u2019s baseline proved to be monumental in opening another door.<\/p>\n

In March 2019, Mackenzie auditioned to be a Detroit Lions cheerleader. The two-day process featured freestyle dances, choreography and a job interview.<\/p>\n

After making the audition cut, Mackenzie went through training camp \u2013 \u201cjust like the football players do,\u201d she said \u2013 and was ready for her first NFL game day inside Ford Field.<\/p>\n

The experience thus far has been a \u201cdream come true,\u201d Mackenzie said.<\/p>\n

\u201cEach game day, I wake up and still can\u2019t believe that I\u2019m doing what I\u2019m doing,\u201d she said. \u201cIt really just makes me feel so blessed to be able to perform at such a large scale, and to be an ambassador to the city of Detroit, the Detroit Lions cheerleaders and Detroit Lions brand.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mackenzie juggles her career and side gig with ease. Time management is key, she says, and her time at the University helped prepare her for the balancing act.<\/p>\n

\u201cI definitely stay busy, but I love it. That\u2019s what I\u2019m used to,\u201d Mackenzie said. \u201cIn college, I was involved in Alpha Phi Omega \u2013 the service fraternity \u2013 the dance team and lots of other extra-curricular activities.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve always been one to stay busy and that\u2019s what I like. Just making sure I have a planner and am writing down all of my events. It\u2019s really just the time management, and I have a great support system at home. That helps as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fulfilling her passion<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Detroit Lions Cheerleaders website is filled with photos and introductory videos, allowing fans to \u201cmeet the squad.\u201d Each cheerleader is featured with a headshot and biography page. Several get-to-know style questions are asked \u2013 from \u201cnickname\u201d to \u201cdream job\u201d \u2013 but the last one stands out: \u201cgreatest passion.\u201d<\/p>\n

Here, Mackenzie highlights what is important to her.<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cHelping people. I strive to make a different in people\u2019s lives, even if it\u2019s just for a moment,\u201d her answer reads.<\/p>\n

Whether it\u2019s through her career as a nurse, community-involvement opportunities with the Detroit Lions or simple, kind-hearted gestures, Mackenzie finds a way to help others.<\/p>\n

\u201cFulfilling that passion is really important to me,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

The Detroit Lions Cheerleading organization does not give out personal information on its cheerleaders to protect their privacy. That is why this story does not use her last name.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The roar of the crowd is amplified, the venue is larger, even the sport is different for University of Detroit Mercy dancer turned Detroit Lions cheerleader Mackenzie M. \u201917. But there\u2019s one thing in Mackenzie\u2019s life that has remained consistent \u2013 her passion for helping others. \u201cMy whole life, I …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":66,"featured_media":2897,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[17,2],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sites.udmercy.edu\/alumni\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/88\/2019\/12\/DT1.jpg?fit=1600%2C818&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8Kcng-KI","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2896"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/66"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2896"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2896\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2900,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2896\/revisions\/2900"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2897"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2896"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2896"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2896"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}