Carlos Lopez

“Professors allow you to come to realizations on your own, and then you become aware of all that you’ve learned and how much you’ve gained. It has dramatically increased my sense of self.”

— Carlos Lopez

“I like to be busy, and my life at Allegheny stays busy,” says Carlos Lopez, a Neuroscience and Psychology major, and Dance and Movement Studies minor. In addition to academics, Carlos is involved with an extended list of extracurricular activities, including Alpha Phi Omega service fraternity, the service-oriented Americorps Bonner Scholar program, and Orchesis dance group. He is also the Black Heritage Month chair for the Advancement of Black Culture (ABC).

Carlos believes Allegheny is the perfect place to push personal limits. “The spring dance concert was an experience that pushed me far beyond what I thought I could do.” Carlos also recognizes Allegheny’s Dance and Movement Studies department as one that teaches without instructing. “Professors allow you to come to realizations on your own, and then you become aware of all that you’ve learned and how much you’ve gained. It has dramatically increased my sense of self.”

One of Carlos’ future goals incorporates both his majors and his minor – he plans to start his own dance studio that encourages couples therapy through ballroom dance. As a first step to accomplishing that goal, Carlos has secured a full-time position as a dance instructor with Arthur Murray Ballroom Dance Studio in Pittsburgh, PA. He will begin this position after he returns from his third summer working with AMIGOS de las Américas, a community service program in Límon, Costa Rica.

“Even before I decided on a Dance and Movement Studies minor, I was very involved with the dance program here at Allegheny and have found a new richness in life through it,” Carlos says. “I never realized how much of a performer that I was born to be or how much I would enjoy dance as my preferred form of art. My activities have truly been the determinant of not only my passion and love for Allegheny College, but also for life.”