Outgoing NMSA Senior Isabella Aldana first heard about NMSA through the National Dance Institute in Santa Fe (NDI-NM).
“My interest to train pre-professionally led me to apply to NMSA in the hopes that this experience would offer further opportunity,” says Isabella, who originally hails from Española, NM.
“My experience has opened my eyes to other opportunities,” she says. “It has prepared me to deal with struggle and to accept that things are not always as you want them to work. For example, my back injury made my experience difficult. Understanding how to handle these struggles has inspired me to explore other resources such as physical therapy and physiology — my plans for college.”
She has particularly appreciated “being treated professionally, and relating/collaborating my arts and academics. [NMSA] has developed my personality in a way that has allowed me to feel safe in being truest to who I am, while trying other personalities in the process. It has matured me and given me leadership skills. It gave me the opportunity to find where my creative mind falls, what I appreciate doing, and what I don’t. Finally it has given me the skill of commitment, dedication, and patience.”
Isabella has accepted a full ride scholarship to study at Smith College in the fall of 2015! We’ll miss you, Isabella!
Isabella was featured in our senior profiles section of this year’s ArtSpring Program (May 2015). She is center in the photo to the left (Paulo T. Photography)