Get Jazzed with Matt Mendoza!
Hi there!
As you can see from the title – my name is Matt. I’m a current sophomore, born and raised in Los Angeles, California. Being from a place that is pretty much 72 degrees year-round, the 24 degree weather this past winter has been soooooo cold. It’s all good though — the snow has been nice and going sledding makes up for all this shivering.
I’m a Neuroscience and Behavior major which means I love anything and everything about the brain. What’s interesting is that we know more about outer space that we do about our own brains! The field of neuroscience is just barely scratching the surface on topics like consciousness, memory and learning, and we’re making great progress in neurodegenerative diseases. All of this makes Neuroscience a really exciting field to be in and it definitely doesn’t hurt that all the professors I’ve had here have been extremely awesome. In fact, they’re so cool that if you approach them about their research, you can actually get involved in it! I’m currently doing research with a professor which means that I get to work with mice on a daily basis. Great stuff to be involved in as an undergraduate.
I’m also pursuing a minor (we call them ‘correlates’ here) in Music Theory. Music has always been a passion of mine and who doesn’t like spending time in Skinner Hall? The abundance of grand pianos over there is magnificent. I’ve also had the amazing opportunity to play on the same concert piano that some all-time jazz legends have played on (Duke Ellington and Bill Evans to name a few!).
So… Some stuff about me other than academics: I play piano for one of the Jazz Combos here, which is really fun especially since we play concerts and have gigs every other week. I’m also an Emergency Medical Technician on campus which means that I respond to severe medical and trauma situations that happen on campus. I’m also a Tour Guide over at the Admissions House and I’m a Student Fellow for Main House!
What is a Student Fellow, you ask? Well, Vassar is really special. We don’t have Resident Advisors (RAs) like other schools do. Instead, we have Student Fellows. We’re all sophomores that get a group of ~10 freshmen and we’re basically their counselor at “Camp Vassar.” Whenever my freshmen have something they need to get off their chest, or if they have any questions, or if they need someone to lean on, or if they just want to hang out; as their Student Fellow, I’m here for them.
I’ll be sure to keep you all updated on all the exciting stuff going on around here so stay tuned. Catch ya later!
Matt
