More Humans of LB

Jasmin Botello studies in The Commons café

Music major, Jasmin Botello originally came to LB for biology, but she didn’t realize how quickly that decision would change because of an essay. The essay was about, “music and how it influences kids and adults alike, [how they] express their emotions and stuff… Not a lot of people want to do it. I saw it as an opportunity to do something I love while helping others.” But why is her love of music creating a realistic career for her? In high school, she performed in three musicals, including Cinderella. What sticks out to her from those performances was, “getting to see the joy on all the little kid's faces who came and saw it.”
Botello plans to have a musical therapy practice of her own to reach out to people who could benefit from it, for example, Altzehmers patients. She hopes that musical therapy will one day become a common form of therapy that people can regularly access.

Lane Giboney snacks during a class break

When he was growing up, Lane Giboney wanted to be a fireman. His father is a cop and, “always gave firefighters a hard time, so I always wanted to be a firefighter so I could have a rivalry with him.” Thought he looked up to his father growing up, Giboney changed his mind on firefighting when he started working on a local grass seed farm. While working there, he interacted with lots of machinery and decided he wanted to pursue a career in heavy equipment and diesel technology. “I found about the heavy equipment program here and how I can work on equipment and machines that I operated myself and I found out about how badly the field needed people who were qualified to do that job.” The classes he takes are always a mystery, he never knows what he will learn that class, which makes for an exciting time. Giboney has not decided where his degree will take him, except that he hopes to stay in the pacific northwest. “I’ve grown up in Albany my entire life and I’ve traveled plenty, but I still love Oregon, Washington, and Idaho more than anywhere else.”

Week 2 Forum:

The photographer I chose for my "Photographer of the Week" is Jordan Matter because he photographs dancers in setting we deem as "everyday" places. Matter did not originally want to be a photographer, but rather an actor. Additionally, his father was a film director and his mother a model, which meant he grew up in front of the camera. Matter's photos stand out because of the use of vibrant color and personality that he captures in every photo. In his headshots, he shows people's personalities rather than produce a typical and boring headshots that most people give agents. His claim to fame is his project, "Dancers Among Us", which captures individuals who express themselves in everyday environments.