Few Cal Poly students have been doing anything for 16 years–except maybe breathing. But Fina Beauchamp, class of 2017, has been dancing ballet since she was 3.
“A couple years later, I moved into jazz and tap,” Fina says. “Then I did all the competition stuff till 12, and then I changed studios to a ballet one.”
When talking about her dance career, Fina is modest and treats it like it’s an everyday occurence. When you start to get into the details, it turns out she’s actually highly accomplished. For four summers in a row, she did a “dance tour” of the US. First a ballet intensive program in Austin, Texas; then NYC; then Boston; then Washington, D.C.; and lastly, Barcelona.
“I wanted to dance professionally so badly,” Fina says. “I was pretty successful in school, but I liked ballet because it was very challenging. I wasn’t the best, so I had to work up to something. I wanted to work up to something great. That was my world.”
Unfortunately, the dancing world is extremely competitive and filled with unknowns. Fina was accepted into a competitive dance program out-of-state. Instead, she chose to study biomedical engineering at Cal Poly, following in the steps of her older sister, Cecilia Beauchamp.
“I wanted to go to college and immerse myself in something other than dance.”
She didn’t know what major to choose, but she knew she liked engineering and her sister seemd to enjoy BMED. But plot twist: Fina is now majoring in software engineering. Why the change?
“I liked the major itself, but when I thought about the potential jobs, I wasn’t too excited. I had seen my sister trying to get jobs and all of the jobs that she was going for weren’t something that I would want,” she says. So she changed majors.
“Last quarter, I took Computer Engineering (CPE) 101. It was easier than I thought it would be. I was nervous going into it that it would be extremely hard, but it went better than I had expected.”
CPE 101 has a reputation for being one of the most-failed classes on campus, but Fina got an A.
“I’m still apprehensive and a little nervous about my future in software engineering, but I took a chance and switched. I hope it works out.”
She doesn’t really know what she wants to do. “I just know that so far it’s been really fun and I hope that it continues to be interesting… and that I continue to understand it.”
When Fina (Fi to her friends) isn’t studying, she’s an active member of Cal Poly’s Engineers Without Borders Chapter.
“I’m the University Funding Coordinator, and I’m on the Thailand team. I joined the first quarter of my freshman year because I liked that it was student-run and that everyone in the meetings was super into it,” she says. “All of the members are super outdoorsy and adventurous. They’ve all done stuff like go backpacking in South America or hiking in Nepal. It makes me want to get out there. I think it’s cool we’re going to less-fortunate countries and making a difference. Just students, getting on a plane.”
As if this wasn’t enough, Fina is also dancing at Cal Poly. She just became a member of Orchesis.
And she’s training for a half-marathon—the Nike Woman’s Half-Marathon in San Francisco. End of October.
“I’m a non-runner. I don’t run,” she laughs.
Yesterday, she ran nine miles. We’ll let that speak for itself.
“I’m doing it, well—my sister did it three or four years when she was here. And ultimately, I just want a Tiffany’s necklace and to say I finished a half-marathon. That’s pretty cool,” she says.
Rapid-fire question time:
If Fina could teach any class at Cal Poly, she’d teach…
“Analysis of Grey’s Anatomy” or “American Reality TV: Educational, Entertaining, or Obsolete?”
If she had to dye her hair a weird color…
“I don’t know if it would look good, but light purple—lavendar.”
If she could bring any animal into her PCV apartment…
“Dog. They’d make a mess of this place, but yeah. I love them. Russell and Daisy—boxers.”
The one major she could never do…
“Never do English.”
If she had to eat at one SLO restaurant for the rest of her life…
“I like either Sallyloo’s or Natural Café. Natural Café because they have a lot of vegetarian options.”
On her SLO bucket-list…
“I guess I haven’t hiked Bishop’s yet. That’s not a good bucket-list thing but…”
That’s okay. Between ballet, software engineering, running, and EWB–we don’t know if Fina has room for anything more on her list.