Keep Calm and Roll On: PSU roller skating Lecturer turns acting dream into reality

CENTRE COUNTY, Pa. (WTAJ) – Penn State lecturer Malena Ramirez proved that no matter the obstacles, you should never stop chasing your dreams. She demonstrates this daily by keeping calm and rolling on… literally!

Four times a week you’ll find Ramirez skating around State College doing all kinds of twists and tricks. With this kind of talent, you’d think Ramirez had been skating all her life.

Getting her first pair of skates at just 8-years-old in Puerto Rico, this could have been the case, but Ramirez says her mom wouldn’t “let her be great,” making her wear a helmet, knee and elbow pads.

“In the neighborhood, the kids were calling me ‘Ooo you look like a robot’ and I stopped skating. I was like I’m not going to do it, my mom doesn’t want me to do it without the protective gear. I was like I’m done,” Ramirez said.

Ramirez meant what she said, and gave up skating. That was until the pandemic hit. She decided to give skating one last roll around the rink.

“There was nothing else to do so I had all the time in the world to learn,” Ramirez said.

After a quick crash course from “YouTube University” as well as a few falls, Ramirez proved that practice really does make perfect, and others couldn’t help but notice.

“People say ‘I can’t stop watching you, you bring so much joy to me.’ I’m like oh I’m not doing it just for me, I’m doing it for other people…. it became my stage,” Ramirez added.

However, performing isn’t anything new to Ramirez.

“I used to say that I wanted to be an actress, and I remember my mom crying because she was like ‘You’re so smart, you can be a doctor or a lawyer!'” Ramirez reflected.

Not feeling medical or law school, Ramirez would follow her dreams studying theatre at the University of Puerto Rico, then auditioning at Penn State for their Master’s of Acting Program.

“At Penn State, I was the only Latina in my cohort when I started doing my master’s. So I didn’t have anyone to talk to in Spanish. I was with an old-fashioned Dictionary,”  Ramirez said.

Just like skating, Ramirez’s determination to learn would once again pay off as she’d become fluent in English, even though one of her favorite forms of acting, physical comedy, doesn’t require any speaking.

“I love it so much because it’s a way of going beyond the walls that language can put to express yourself…. because emotions are universal. Everybody goes through joy, sadness and frustration, and I get to express that with my body instead of language. I love how that can reach many audiences,” Ramirez said.

Ramirez’s talents would also reach Penn State’s administration, which would land her a full-time job right after graduation. She has been teaching acting classes at the School of Theatre ever since.

Sophmore Jonathan Cardona said if he had to describe Ramirez in one word, it would be “inspirational.”

“Being Latino and having a Latina professor, that’s not something I got to have growing up, so honestly just seeing her represent the Latin community is very important,” Cardona said.

Sophmore Hannah Hughes adds that none of her other professors compare.

“I think she’s so bubbly and just her energy carries on to everyone in the class. Every time I walk in here I’m in a better mood,” Hughes added.

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Ramirez said that energy is just in her blood.

“I feel like it reflects something about my culture which is something that I’m very proud of, how joyful we are no matter how hard the times are, we are so reliant,” Ramirez said.

That resilience is what Ramirez said she hopes to model for other Latinx boys and girls with a dream.

“Follow your dreams that should be your priority and the rest will come but you just have to do it,” Ramirez added.

Ramirez also mentioned that, to this day, her mom still gets on her about not skating without protective gear, to which she responds- “But mom, I’m a pro now!”

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