Student Profile
Vitals:
Name: Dominique Venturini
Graduation Year: 2009
Hometown: Cortlandt Manor
Major: Dual Degree Special Ed & Anthropology/Sociology
Weekend Activity: Jazz Dance
Westchester County native Dominique Venturini has worked as a T.A. in several different countries every summer since 2000. She has helped teach ESL to students in Cambodia, Poland, Belarus, Russia, and China. A Duchesne Scholar at Manhattanville, she was initially drawn to the College because of the large number of international students. "I love making friendships with people who have totally different cultures than mine," she said. "I believe that if you don't experience other cultures firsthand, then you don't get a chance to understand the differences and similarities between people. When you have international experiences you realize that although we might speak different languages or have different customs, we are all human beings."
Dominique's favorite experience teaching ESL overseas was the summer she spent in Cambodia. "Teaching English to students there was personally very satisfying," she said. "During the civil war thirty years ago, many educators were murdered by the Pol-Pot Regime, so the quality of their education in general is very poor. I felt like i was giving these students something that they could benefit from because learning English will help many get jobs, and for some, may be a way out of poverty."
Dominique is currently completing a dual degree program for a Bachelors in Sociology/Anthropology, and a Masters in Special Education. "I am particularly interested in helping kids with disabilities," she said. "I am dyslexic, and when I was younger I had teachers that really believed in me, and gave me the tools to excel at my schoolwork in spite of the dyslexia. In my experiences as a T.A overseas, I saw physically and mentally disabled students who did not have much support. It made me realize that there is work to be done abroad; and how lucky I was to be educated in a country where disabled people have a lot of rights."
Dominique is also an accomplished Jazz dancer, and has taken two semesters of Dance Therapy. She has also worked with autistic children using Music Therapy. This summer she will be working as a T.A again in a small province in China.