Gilbert
contributes more than song, dance to COEP
Fifty-five
years ago, in Belen, a baby girl was brought into the world
and would prove to make a huge impact on the UNM community.
After her
mother walked more than five blocks across town, Susanna Gilbert
was born in Belens town clinic.
Gilbert,
College of Education administrative assistant III, said growing
up in Belen was a great experience thanks to the help of a special
person in her life.
The
story about my mother walking to the clinic you cant
help but love a woman who does that, she said. My
mother has influenced me a great deal and she has so much strength.
Gilberts
mother is originally from Massachusetts.
She
has given me the New England influence and my father the Spanish
influence along with Irish, French and German, she said.
A lot of people in New Mexico are melting pots and I am
not an exception.
Gilbert
appreciates the close relationships in Belens small community.
Although the town is now almost a suburb of Albuquerque, Gilbert
said more people are finding Belen a nice place to come home
to.
There
is something about how one is raised in a small town,
she said. The closeness of the town rubs off and you can
even tell when people come from Belen.
In 1979,
Gilbert joined the UNM Child Care Cooperative staff and moved
to the College of Education two years later. Although Gilbert
worked full time as an administrative assistant, she was still
able to earn a degree. Thanks to the tuition remission program,
Gilbert earned a masters in secondary education with an
emphasis on adult education and English as a Second Language
in 1993 by taking one course a semester for seven years.
I
am really glad that my first career has been with UNM,
she said. I am proud to have contributed my gifts, education
and talents to the College of Education over the years.
Being very
active in the UNM community, Gilbert created a Web site that
is designed to improve the scholarship application process for
College of Education students.
She wrote
for the College of Educations alumni newsletter, Mosaic,
and helped design it at its conception.
She has
designed brochures, programs, memento cards and anything dealing
with special events and outreach for the College of Education.
Along with
her contributions to UNM, she is an actress and singer. She
performs regularly in premiers of new plays and operas. She
has also sung in concert halls, Musical Theater Southwest and
church.
Some
of the most famous ones that I have been in are Zarzuelas,
which are Spanish operas, at the KiMo Theater, she said.
Ive had a lot of secondary roles in both acting
and singing.
Gilbert
said performing for audiences gives her a sense of satisfaction.
You get
a big high when going on stage in front of hundreds of people,
she said. If youve done your work in rehearsal,
you feel proud of what you receive back.
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