{"id":73909,"date":"2025-02-04T10:58:44","date_gmt":"2025-02-04T17:58:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/?p=73909"},"modified":"2025-02-04T10:58:44","modified_gmt":"2025-02-04T17:58:44","slug":"humans-of-nau-lenin-salcedo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/humans-of-nau-lenin-salcedo\/","title":{"rendered":"Humans of NAU: Lenin Salcedo"},"content":{"rendered":"

Honors College student <\/span>Lenin Salcedo<\/span><\/b> has an unusual capstone project planned. Inspired by his childhood in the Caribbean and his love of physics, the project will take the form of a performance that explores how sounds tether us to each other and to the universe. Salcedo promises you won\u2019t need to know anything about physics or music theory to understand and enjoy it. Read on to find out more about the project, Salcedo\u2019s upbringing and his dreams for the future.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

What brought you to NAU?<\/span><\/b>
\n<\/span>I was initially attracted to NAU\u2019s strong physics department, but I fell in love with the<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>intimate learning environment and vibrant community. Especially in Honors, the<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>classroom has felt like a dynamic place where I can creatively think and connect with<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>diverse people. Flagstaff has also become a second home, bringing me out of my comfort<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>zone and forcing me to explore.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Lenin<\/a>How did your upbringing in the Caribbean influence your love for music\u2014including jazz?<\/span><\/b>
\n<\/span>Since I was born, my life in the Caribbean was with music. No matter the occasion,<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>music plays an integral part in keeping the spirit alive, especially with family and friends<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>involved. The rich cultural diversity embedded in the music of my people taught me to<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>express myself to the fullest, leading me to find jazz as an outlet to keep me rooted and<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>share music with others abroad.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

What inspired you to study the relationship between jazz and chaos theory?<\/span><\/b>
\n<\/span>For a while, I struggled to connect my interests in physics and music. They felt like two<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>opposing sides of my mind that were too stubborn to join. Doing this research has helped<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>me find a connection between these two fields and made information about them<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>accessible to others.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

What will your capstone performance look like?<\/span><\/b>
\n<\/span>My performance will consist of four parts detailing the lineage of musical improvisation<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>from the prayers of the motherland to the formality of Western art music and the<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>argument of my research. By the end of the performance, audiences will be able to think<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>about music (and noise in general) as something that connects us with the universe<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>without necessarily having to understand the intricacies of science.<\/span><\/p>\n

What do you hope to do after graduation?<\/span><\/b>
\n<\/span>After graduating with my undergraduate degree, I plan to go directly into graduate school<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>and get my Ph.D. in physics and mathematics. I also want to continue my artistic<\/span> education and travel the world, learning about how humans share knowledge through art.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Tell us about a significant childhood memory and how it has impacted your life today.<\/span><\/b>
\n<\/span>The most defining memory of my childhood was moving to Arizona for the first time. It was a culture shock, a completely different world from what I experienced in the Caribbean and New York City. Since none of my school transcripts transferred over, I had a clean slate. This change in my life taught me that to be equal to my peers, I needed to work 10 times harder, forcing me to strengthen my work ethic and gear everything toward my personal success.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Lenin<\/a>What have you been most proud of recently?<\/span><\/b>
\n<\/span>I am proud of my dedication to self-improvement and learning new things. I felt trapped<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>in a box for years and could not escape my situation. Now, I have learned to live my life<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>for myself without the expectations of others getting in the way, which has allowed me to<\/span> experience things beyond what I imagined for myself.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

What did you want to be when you grew up?<\/span><\/b>
\n<\/span>When I was younger, I wanted to be a filmmaker. I grew up watching some of the world\u2019s<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>greatest movies, from the French New Wave to American standards. I always envisioned<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>myself in the director\u2019s chair or as a screenwriter, but my interests led me elsewhere.<\/span><\/p>\n

What is your favorite way to spend a day off?<\/span><\/b>
\n<\/span>I enjoy reading, working out and trying new foods. Recently, I have loved going<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>downtown with my girlfriend, trying all the caf\u00e9s and indulging in the local art scene.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

What are three things on your bucket list?<\/span><\/b>
\n<\/span>My three bucket list items are going to every Disney park in the world, going to Africa at<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>least once and starting a family.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Honors College student Lenin Salcedo has an unusual capstone project planned. Inspired by his childhood in the Caribbean and his love of physics, the project will take the form of a performance that explores how sounds tether us to each other and to the universe. Salcedo promises you won\u2019t need to know anything about physics…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":95,"featured_media":73911,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1817],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-73909","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-humans-of-nau"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73909","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/95"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=73909"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73909\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/73911"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=73909"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=73909"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=73909"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}