Donielle Morris was born and raised in Oregon. At the age of three her father would take her into the his home studio and have her record. Music took a break for a while and it wasn't until she moved to the small town of Redmond, Oregon that she began to remember how much music really was imbedded into her soul. She began singing in choirs, and by her sophomore year in high school her solo voice had taken off. Singing mostly classical and opera music for local competitions, she won everything she competed in, from District solo festival to a $10,000 vocal performance scholarship at Linfield College in McMinnville, Oregon. The scholarship panel stated, "We have kids in our program who have been studying classical music for years and your talent exceeds anyone we have in our program right now and in years previous and you've never taken a vocal lesson! We're amazed!" Donielle decided to take that scholarship and started college that fall, by the end of her first year she was singing graduate level arias. The summer after her freshman year she decided that financially school wasn't the right choice for her and packed two suitcases, got on a plane and flew to Nashville, Tennessee to start a career in country music. She hit a rough patch a year into her adventure in Tennessee and got diagnosed with Crohn's Disease and had to have two emergency surgeries, removing a foot of her intestines, a softball size absess, part of her colon, her illeum, and her appendix. Despite the illness she has proven that what doesn't kill you only makes you stronger. She says, "I didn't move clear accross the country to get so sick I almost died and NOT MAKE IT, no way!" Since the diagnosis she has kicked herself into high gear, spending almost all her day writing and co-writing music, singing, networking and recording. It will take time, but she's willing to pay her dues in the music city; she will get there someday soon. "I never really felt like I fit in anywhere else, not in high school, not in college, not in Oregon. It wasn't until I moved to Nashville that I really found my home, this is where I belong."
This Summer Donielle got the opportunity to be a camp counselor at Crohn's and Colitis Foundation of America's Camp Oasis, specifically designed for children who have been diagnosed with these life-altering digestive diseases. "I have never in my life been around so many amazingly strong kids. The girls of Cabin 16 changed my life! This was truly an experience that will stick with me forever!"
From Left to Right (Nicknames included): Back Row: Hannah (Hannah Montana), Donielle (Dean), Gaylyn, Irina. Front Row: Mary-Catherine (Trouble), Shannon (Smily), Marissa (Smarty Pants), Kathleen (Question), and Ryanne (Come back).
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