We’re checking in with some of our alumni to learn about their post-HGSE careers and get their advice for current and prospective students. Jenna Gabriel is a 2014 graduate of HGSE’s master’s program.
What is your current role?
I’m the Manager of Special Education at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Essentially, I support anything the Center does that reaches students with disabilities or their teachers, and oversee a portfolio of professional development initiatives, including the annual VSA Intersections: Arts and Special Education Conference.
How did HGSE prepare you for that position?
The Arts in Education (AIE) program pushed me to think about the many forms arts learning takes for students—within and far beyond the traditional school setting—and equipped me with a vocabulary to effectively advocate for the value of the arts in education. The program’s flexibility offered me opportunity to take coursework not only in education, but also in policy and public leadership. I lean on the skills and habits of mind I developed at HGSE daily.
What is your favorite HGSE memory?
It was the first weekend in April and the AIE cohort had planned a spring talent show to align with Admitted Students weekend. As a closing act, a group of us had chosen to do a skit for the prospective students about a day in the life of an AIE student. We had a classmate who was an extraordinary visual artist and puppeteer, and Ye-Sul created these exquisite puppets of Steve Seidel and Scott Ruescher for us to use. I played Steve. I remember literally nothing about the specifics around this event, just the joy and terror of working with a classmate to try to capture the energy of these two administrators, professors, and humans who had been so integral to our HGSE experience. Hearing Steve and Scott laugh as their puppet-selves imparted HGSE wisdom onto an unsuspecting student puppet was DEFINITELY a highlight of my HGSE experience!
What is your advice to prospective students?
When I started my undergraduate degree in Drama, the head of my conservatory said to us, “Look to your left. Look to your right. You’ll be working with these people for the rest of your life.” I would tell incoming HGSE students the same thing. The people I got to know over drinks I swore I didn’t have time for became personal and professional resources I continue to rely on. I met my husband in Gutman library writing one of my final term papers. There’s a photo from our wedding that I look at all the time, just us and a bunch of folks from HGSE: One is a Title IX investigator at a large university. One is a senior education policy advisor to a US Senator. One is Chief of Staff to a US Representative. One is an elementary school teacher. It goes on and on. I love that photo not just because I love the people in it, but also because I look at it and I think to myself, “Every single one of these jokesters gets up in the morning and fights to make this world a little better for our young people.” If you stay open to the learning that happens outside of your classes, you’ll find yourself pushed and challenged and inspired by the incredible people you study with… and I promise you’ll be better for it.
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