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Susan Dominguez

Susan Dominguez

Music (Senior)

Internship: El Sistema, Santa Cruz, Calif.

As a Latina in the arts, I have found myself to be underestimated quite often. While studying at UC Santa Cruz, I have learned that people will respond to the energy I put out.

As a music major, Susan is getting ready to teach music to young students through her internship at El Sistema, an Orff-based pre-orchestra program working with local school districts and local foundations to offer a tuition-free after-school program that operates during the school year. “This will be my first time teaching with structure,” she says. “It will be a great learning experience for me and I’m hoping to learn how to explain music to a variety of different people.”

Susan was first drawn to the CEI program because it creates an opportunity for students in the arts to have professional experience during their undergraduate years. She likes that the program takes the creativity of students and blends it with developing professional skills, and she wants to incubate her own project around assisting fellow Music Department students in the learning process.

“Teaching requires patience and the ability to re-think techniques,” she observes. “I am hoping to learn the best way to approach that, especially by working with a teacher, so I can take that valuable experience with me through to graduate school and anytime I want to teach music or any other subject!”

She also looks forward not only getting to know a group of bright and gifted students, but also gaining from them insights into her own personal development. “If my energy exudes confidence and security in a professional setting, then I should have no problem creating a spot for myself in places that are not usually meant for people in my demographic. That energy is what I am hoping to develop during my participation in this program.”