V A NESS A TO M P K INS As soon as she could talk, Vanessa Tompkins was singing. Her piano teacher discovered there was more to the youngster’s talent. Soon, she was recruited to take her place on a bigger platform for her vocal talents and a place for her spirituality to blossomAve Maria University. “Before that, it was just notes on a paper for me,’’ she said. “The emotion was there, but it really grew here.” Today, Vanessa, 22, of Tampa, is an Ave Maria senior trained in classical music and opera, setting off to the still bigger stage this spring when she graduates with a degree in music. She’s off to graduate school and one day hopes to grace a stage in Europe, maybe Italy. But her AMU experience, shared with four siblings, is where she excelled as a soloist, lead actress, pianist and ballerina. At AMU, she’s been a soloist for the AMU Choir, with the Chamber Ensemble. She’s performed at the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center. AMU is where she made the transition from being home-schooled. She remembers the day when she felt at home on campus. “It was a hard transition,’’ she said. “But then one moment . . . I had this sense of peace that this is where I belonged.’’ As she looks around the campus and her eye falls on the Oratory, she talks of the lifelong friends she’s made. “You can feel the love here. You can feel the faith.”
avemaria.edu | spring 2013 |
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