This week’s campus celebrity is Charmaine Del Rosario! Charmaine is from East Brunswick, NJ and is a junior at Montclair State University. She is currently a psychology major, but is in the transition of switching to exercise science. When Charmaine is not working, writing papers, doing projects, or cramming for exams, she is dancing. She is usually in her room with her earphones in freestyling or just dancing around. She loves to dance so much that she says, “I can’t listen to music while I do work because I’ll just end up moving and thinking of more moves in my head”. Other than dancing, Charmaine enjoys going on YouTube to watch beauty gurus and shopping or window shopping, depending on “how sad her bank account is looking”. We asked Charmaine what her favorite type of music is and she tells us, “I enjoy listening to everything from R&B to Alternative Rock, but you’ll most likely catch me listening to slow jams from artists like Sam Smith, Emily King, and John Legend, or Christian music with bands like Hillsong United”.
Charmaine recently transferred to Montclair State University this semester and has not gotten a chance to join as many clubs and organizations as she would have hoped. However, she does have some friends in MUFASA and UAASO so she has had the opportunity to attend some meetings. Charmaine says, “Even though I haven’t been as involved in these clubs this semester, MUFASA, UAASO, and Poets in Motion were kind enough to ask me to teach a hip hop dance workshop for them here at the Student Recreational Center. It was the first dance class I have ever taught, and it was such a fun new experience and I thank MUFASA, UAASO, and Poets in Motion for allowing me to take part in this wonderful experience”. Here are some pictures of Charmaine at her workshop for MUFASA, UAASO, and Poets in Motion:
Charmaine is inspired by many people but, two people that inspire her as a dancer are a couple named Keone and Mariel Madrid. “I am most inspired by Keone and Mariel Madrid. Keone and Mariel are married hip-hop dancers from southern California and they dance on a team called Cookies (formerly known as Choreo Cookies). They inspire me both in dance and in my faith. In terms of dance, they dance differently than anyone I’ve ever seen, and they always put out new choreography that puts me to tears because I’m astonished that someone can create something so brilliant. Also, you can just see how passionate they are in what they do through their dance. They say that the main source of their inspiration comes from God and I feel like as a Christian, it has helped me appreciate dance and my faith together as one”. We HAD to check Keone and Mariel out on YouTube and Charmaine was right, they are amazing!
Charmaine has many goals for herself. “Academically, I hope to get into the Exercise Science program [fall 2014] because I’ve been active in physical activities most of my life, and I have a huge interest in physical fitness and health. Socially, I hope to add on to the great friends I’ve made this semester and become more involved in school clubs and organizations”. Charmaine’s long term goal is to become a pediatric occupational therapist. She wants to work with kids who have undergone accidents or have disabilities. Charmaine tells us how she plans to reach this goal, “I hope to get there by interning or volunteering at hospitals and schools for children with disabilities, like, Lakeview School”.
Fun Fact:
How did you discover you love of dance?
“What some people don’t know about me is that I used to be a cheerleader and gymnast for about 7 years, but then I had to get scoliosis corrective surgery and have metal rods screwed to my spine which brought my cheerleading career to a halt. However, this is one of the main reasons why I began dancing. Even though it gets frustrating that my back sometimes limits my movement while dancing, I wouldn’t have it any other way since without my surgery, and I probably wouldn’t have discovered my passion for dance”.