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Fall 2002 Spotlight Issue
October 28, 2002

Gilbert contributes more than song, dance to COEP

Susanna GilbertFifty-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 Belen’s 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 can’t help but love a woman who does that,” she said. “My mother has influenced me a great deal and she has so much strength.”

Gilbert’s 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 Belen’s 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 master’s 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 Education’s 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 Zarzuela’s, which are Spanish operas, at the KiMo Theater,” she said. “I’ve 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 you’ve done your work in rehearsal, you feel proud of what you receive back.”

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