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Jacobi Alvarez

Biography

 

Highlights of Young Scholar Experience: When talking about her experiences as a Young Scholar, Jacobi Alvarez first mentions the doors that were opened to her by being able to attend a private high school near her hometown in Austin, TX.  Secondly, the Scholarship allowed her to spend a year abroad as an exchange student, a truly life-changing experience.

Profile: At the tender age of 9, Jacobi met another little girl about her age who introduced her to the world of theater and the joys of performance art.  They became fast friends and remain so almost a decade later. It wasn’t a movie star, or an athlete, a minister or even a politician that opened her eyes to the future ... it was a little girl from the hill country near Austin who helped Jacobi realize “more and more that being an actor and dancer and singer fed my soul, and that's why I don’t want to do anything else.” Along the way during her years at the exclusive St. Stephen’s Episcopal School, Jacobi has distinguished herself in the classroom and through her immense talent on stage as a dancer, singer and actor.  Jacobi was, she says, blessed to spend her entire sophomore year in Japan as an exchange student.

Inspiration: There are teachers you remember your entire life.  Jacobi’s high school dance teacher is one of those special people who has the gift that inspires those she touches daily. 

Aspiration:  She hopes to combine her love of performance art and Japanese culture into a career. 

Making a Difference: When Jacobi arrived at St. Margaret’s School in Japan as a 15-year-old exchange student, she was initially overwhelmed by the language barrier.  But, riding to the rescue, were the eight words all dancers count off as they practice, the numbers one through eight.  But instead of saying them in English, she learned to say: “Ichi, ni, san, shi, go, roku, shichi, hachi. One, two three, four, five, six, seven, eight.”  That was her “anthem” while in Japan. “Although living in Tokyo with a limited but steadily growing ability to communicate was intensely challenging, I was able to take refuge in dance. In dance, everything that needs to be said can be expressed through movement.” It was through dance she learned to embrace and love her time in Japan.

Accolades: In addition to numerous awards at St. Stephen’s School in Texas, including Honor Roll recognition and being named Outstanding Performer in 2010, Jacobi’s most proud of her being a member of the St. Margaret’s School of Tokyo’s Dance Team which garnered First Place honors in a national competition during the year she spent at that school as an exchange student.

Interesting Fact: During her senior year of high school Jacobi was the lead actor in an independent short film that was produced in Austin. 

 

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