'We All Treat Each Other Like Family'

Chika Matsumoto ’21 first started dancing because it’s what her friends were doing.

But she never stopped.

“It turned out to be a lifelong passion and hobby with me,” she said. “Dance has just been that one thing that stuck with me my entire life.”

A senior at Pacific University, Matsumoto is majoring in exercise science while minoring in dance and Japanese. She is a member of the Pacific Dance Ensemble, as well as a student member of the university’s Board of Trustees.

Dance, she said, gives her and healthy outlet for her emotions, as well as a community.

“The dance community is pretty small and interconnected, and we all treat each other like family,” she said.

Studying dance in college also gives her different perspectives.

“I have to say my experience with dance in higher education has been so different and so rewarding,” she said. “Being able to participate in conferences, being able to do research in the dance field — I think a lot of these are really unique in the academic dance world.”