Dora Chin, Violin
What instrument do you play when your three cousins, two sisters and two brothers all play violin? Well violin of course. Fast forward and now Dora is the only one still playing!
Dora grew up in Reedley, a small city near Fresno. Her family believed that playing an instrument would be good for the kids both academically and as an extracurricular accomplishment. She played in middle school and high school orchestras and, after graduation, started taking private lessons.
Then off to Mount Holyoke College in southern Massachusetts (the oldest member of the high-caliber “Seven Sisters” historically women’s liberal arts colleges). “I wanted a real change of pace,” she says. That it was! Dora majored in Math with a minor in Education. After graduation she became a teacher in West Sacramento and started playing with a Sacramento community orchestra. “It was so fun to play at the end of a sometimes intense teaching day. It was my treat to myself.”
Dora came to the Bay Area as a data analyst for the West Contra Costa School District, and has now settled into a job as a software engineer for Aspire Public Schools, public charter schools that focus on historically marginalized communities. She’s joined Prometheus and continues to take private lessons. “I love how people in this orchestra just play out, without fear, at a nice high level. My job is coding (yes she uses AI) and it’s mental-heavy. Music gets me out of my head and into the body. And I still have musical goals ahead!” We’re happy to promote all musical goals!
