Alondra, Pre-College & LASP
Alondra grew up the youngest of four children. Her parents knew about UCC’s Bruce-Guadalupe Community School (BGCS) because for a number of years, her father worked there. They enrolled their children at BGCS because they knew the school focused on the academic success of students and liked that it was part of a larger community-based center.
At 10, Alondra picked up the viola for the first time when she enrolled in the nationally recognized Latino Arts Strings Program (LASP). She loved traditional Mexican music and wanted to work her way up to LASP’s Mariachi Juvenile. Music and art quickly became a driving force in her life.
Fast forward a few years, Alondra was graduating from BGCS and heading to Divine Savior Holy Angels High School (DSHA). She stayed a part of the strings program and also progressed into UCC’s pre-college program where she was linked with a personal advisor to make sure she succeeded in high school. Now, Alondra is getting ready to start her senior year at DSHA and is still involved with UCC and LASP.
As a high school member of LASP, Alondra takes part in the Strings Orchestra and has reached her goal of Mariachi Juvenil membership. The Strings Orchestra trains her in classical musicianship while the Mariachi Juvenil fosters her cultural pride. Thanks to UCC’s pre-college programming, Alondra continues to receive individualized attention with her pre-college advisor who goes to DSHA to meet with her on a regular basis. Because the bus also drops Alondra off at UCC at the end of every school day, she is also able to drop-in and meet with her advisor whenever she needs to.
Her love of and talent in the viola has made Alondra a world traveler. In summer of 2014, she travelled to the Vienna, Austria and Budapest, Hungary with the Milwaukee Youth Symphony Orchestra’s Senior Symphony. She performed in concert halls in which famous composers’ pieces like Mozart and Beethoven were first performed.
Alondra is excited to begin the college application process in the upcoming school year. Her first-choice school is UW-Milwaukee’s Peck School of the Arts. Working with her pre-college advisor and strings instructors, she has already met many faculty members and students and has spent quite a bit of time on campus.
Her music teachers, pre-college advisor, and fellow musicians cannot wait to see what Alondra’s future holds as she prepares for her senior year of high school and beyond.