Swinging to a Passion's Beat
Music has the ability to make an individual feel many things; it has that underlying influence on the values we uphold, and the decisions that we make; especially when it concerns the path that we choose to take. The Music Literature program of the Ateneo de Manila allows students to explore more of what music offers to the soul, and what music has done besides providing a catchy rhythm. One of the products of the Music Literature program, Ms. Nicole Alegrado now resides in Spain, and I am blessed to have the opportunity to ask her about her experience taking up the minor and how it helped her grow as a person, and as a professional.
“Challenge to do more” and “Passion for music,” was her 1 + 1 equation that got her to take this minor. Even though her current career circulates more on her second minor, which is Spanish Studies, she felt the need to push herself. What better way to motivate her pursuit of a challenge by including her own passion of music? Hence, Music Literature.
With a couple of instruments and a voice to match, music has had a part in her life as early as her childhood days as she used to be part of their school choir in her hometown of Cebu. In fact, one of her pinnacle achievements as a Music Literature student was when she made her very own album FLUX, under the genre of EDM (Electronic Dance Music) which is being played in radio stations around Cebu and can also be listened to online on SoundCloud.
“The rudiments of music class was the most useful to what I was doing independently outside of class.”
It is true that the lessons we learn outside the classroom are more important, and Nicole managed to complement the lessons she learned which developed her more as a professional. Right now, she is working as an auxiliary for conversation in Spain, and though her current career is primarily focused on her Spanish Studies minor she still owes it to her Music Literature minor for shaping her and for allowing her to improve.
On asking about her experience living in Europe alone: “It was definitely difficult, different from moving to Manila for college,” but she considers her 4 years of living alone in Manila to be preparation for a bigger step—Europe. Her situation in Europe however is that, she neither has family nor friends there. She is not there as a tourist but as a professional. After adjustment however, she soon became happy. She’s made friends and also schedules when she would Skype with her family considering the 7-hour time difference and their busy lives. She definitely learned how to live independently.
In July, she happily expressed that she was going to work at a 3-star Michelin restaurant as an apprentice. One of her main reasons for choosing to reside in San Sebastian (a city in the Basque community of Spain) is that it has the most Michelin restaurants in the world.
A short unrelated geography lesson that some may find interesting: the Basques are actually people who both reside in Spanish and French territories at the border known as Bay of Biscay. Also considered as an autonomous community in Spain, they have their own language and own cuisine, which consists of seafood especially cod and baby eel, along with some poultry, ham and sausage, and an assortment of vegetables and cheeses.
Nicole mentions how cooking is actually her true passion and having to find apprenticeship in Arzak (the restaurant she’ll be working at) is what she considers to be a job of her dreams. Even though music is still not involved, it still held a significant influence especially how she has grown as a person. Not everything a person does has to involve something they love, but how a person uses knowledge to pursue a greater self that one can be is what she did by overcoming limits and that for her has made all the difference.
Article Written by Gab Tolarbas. Edited by Chai Ramento and Yani Pulido
*images taken from Nicole Alegrado, HuffingtonPost.com, and HonestCooking.com