Meet Meet Gabriela P.

Liberal Arts graduate

As a student in SUNY Oneonta’s Cooperstown Graduate Program in Museum Studies, Hudson Valley alumna Gabriela Paixão e Kelly is learning the ins and outs of curation, exhibition, and how to develop impactful cultural and educational programming.

The 2017 HVCC Liberal Arts graduate continued her education in the University at Albany’s Anthropology B.A. degree program and returned to the college classroom as a graduate student last year, looking to eventually start a career in the field of museum education.

“I always wanted to work with the public and when I was a kid, I really I loved going to museums,” she said. “As a kid, you know, I didn't know I could work in a museum. I thought it was something you volunteered for!”

Like many of her fellow Shenendehowa graduates, Gabriela chose to start her higher education at Hudson Valley and, she said, in retrospect it was good decision on several levels. For one thing, she met her future husband in an HVCC classroom, but she also was able to sort out what academic pathway she wanted to take.

“For me, it was a great choice and I was really proud to go to Hudson Valley,” she said. “For those first two years right after high school, you're kind of learning about yourself and taking the time to learn about what you really like. I just really wasn’t sure what I wanted to do with my life as an 18-year-old and at Hudson Valley, there wasn’t the social and financial pressure to just do one thing.”

A bit of a “history nerd” in high school, she said she was right at home in Professor Matt Zembo’s Western Civilization and the World course during her first year at Hudson Valley. “He was an amazing professor; very funny, very engaging. It’s interesting because I was in that class and there was a lot of kids coming from all different places, and some kids really loved it and some kids didn't really like it at first. At the end of the course, everybody raised their hands. Everyone was engaging and everyone wanted to be a part of the conversation. I also have to give a shout out to Professor Whitaker. He taught all of my political science classes and he really influenced my career path as well.”

Gabriela said that after completing her graduate degree program she hopes to find a position within a local cultural, historical organization or museum. “I would love to work with the public, work on programming and education and exhibit work. I still want to be able to do the research but also be out front to help explain it.”

Still, that path to a future career might not have begun without her experience at Hudson Valley. “My husband and I really love Hudson Valley. He’s a high school teacher and he’s always recommending Hudson Valley to his students because of the opportunities for growth that they can have during those first two years,” she said. “Everything I took at Hudson Valley, the political science, the anthropology and history courses, was like the backbone to where I am now.”