Outstanding Graduate: Jacqueline Zogas, School of Music and Dance

Following graduation, Jacqueline Zogas’ career goals include working either as a professional dancer or as an actress in film and television. Whether she’s dancing or acting on camera, Jacqueline Zogas knows both her relationship to and knowledge of the ins and outs of the camera will set her apart from the rest in her future.

Zogas learned these skills in the SDSU Dance Program, and at her internship for a production company, Legacy Pictures.

If a reporter were to interview someone close to her, Zogas believes they would speak about her determination. “I will never give up on anything, and I will always give my all,” Zogas says.

Her determination will guide her in her professional career as a dancer or actress upon graduation. “The experimentation of the SDSU Dance Program gave me the freedom to try on and investigate different routes, which helped me develop and understand what it was I truly wanted for my career,” Zogas says.

“Something challenging I overcame at SDSU was having to transfer my dance classes online when the pandemic hit last year. It was something I was not used to, so it was challenging and frustrating for me. I learned to adapt to this new space and can now say I have a new way of learning under my belt. I will take these new attributes I have developed from moving to online class with me after I graduate,” Zogas says.

Zogas hopes for the future of her graduating class that “whether or not everyone chooses to pursue dancing, we all apply the physical, mental, and emotional skills we learned in this program to our everyday lives.”

Regarding incoming SDSU freshmen, Zogas advises them to “be open-minded to this new experience as much as possible. It may seem unfamiliar and foreign at first, but trust in your professors and yourself. Be a sponge, absorb it all!”

The content within this article has been edited by Lizbeth Persons.