Meet Melanie

Have you taken a tap dance class at LifeWorks Erie lately? If you have, you most likely had Melanie Titzel as your instructor!

Melanie Titzel has not only been a member of LifeWorks Erie, she works full time for LECOM as the Director of Senior Living Communities and when time permits she’s in the activity room counting the beats to the new routine she’s teaching. I often see her stop in just to say hi! Recently I had the opportunity to sit down and chat with Melanie.

As you probably guessed, one of Melanie’s passions is dancing. She is trained in classical ballet, modern jazz, as well as tap. She has been dancing basically all of her life. When Melanie was in her 30’s she decided to pursue her passion and childhood dream. She went back to school and received her certificate from Dance Masters of America at the University of Buffalo. While it took her 7 years to complete this, it was by far one of her biggest dreams come true. She also has her doctorate in Leadership from Gannon University. It sounds to me that Melanie likes a challenge and has a desire to learn.

Melanie loves to read, especially inspirational books. Some of her favorites are “The Road Less Traveled” and “Battlefield of the Mind”. No surprise, with her dancing back ground, “Singing in The Rain” and “The Sound of Music” are two of her favorite movies! It did surprise me to learn that Melanie lives in a log cabin! Doing what she loves best; Melanie played Grandmother in the Nutcracker a few years back. She is fond of traveling, especially on a cruise. (I think we need her to put one together for our LifeWorks family. I’m sure she would be happy to teach tap dance on the cruise ship as well!)

I asked Melanie what some of her favorite quotes were and immediately she said “Don’t Worry, Be Happy”. She was also quick to tell me “Life is too short to get hung up on the little things, if everyone would just follow the Golden Rule, to treat others the way you want to be treated life would be a lot easier.” What a great way to look at life! So when you see Melanie around the center give a quick wave and ask her when she’s coming back to teach tap for us! I know even though Melanie keeps herself busy working full time, it’s great to see her take time to learn, engage and teach for us.

It was a pleasure to have this conversation with Melanie. I learned a lot about a valuable member of LECOM LifeWorks!