In our last post of the month, senior Hadassa writes about her journey of becoming a veteran Zumba instructor at Cornell.
By Hadassa Jakher '18, Government and Spanish double major, International Relations and Law & Society double minor
One of my all-time favorite things to do is dance! Growing up Latina, I would always be jamming out to salsa and merengue tunes with my family. So when I found out that there was a Zumba studio in my hometown in California, I was ecstatic. I fell in love with the “fitness party” atmosphere of the classes and decided to become a certified Zumba instructor. When I got to Cornell, I was excited to see that Cornell Fitness Centers hired students as group fitness instructors. I took extra PE classes at Cornell in Latin Dance and Salsa to ensure that my skills were up to par for my upcoming audition with CFC. Thanks to all of the preparation by taking classes in my hometown and refining my techniques, I aced my audition and I was hired! I began teaching my own Zumba classes the spring semester of my freshman year.
I love my job as a Zumba instructor. Since my freshman year until now (my final year!), I have taught a diverse range of classes. The participants in my classes included both students and faculty, and I taught across different gyms – from Helen Newman to Bartels Hall to Noyes. I started teaching with some of my favorite songs that I had learned from the awesome instructors from my hometown studio. As I became more experienced, I even began to choreograph my own moves to new songs. Participating in Zumba in my hometown in California and being able to teach here at Cornell has been such a wonderful experience. In both places, there has been a great sense of community that allowed me to grow as an instructor and as a dancer. I am so grateful that I have a job where my participants come to have fun and work out, all while doing what I love – dancing!
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