born in pittsburgh to a couple completely lacking any connection to the entertainment industry, josin de la cruz had an utterly ordinary childhood. marc and sofia de la cruz embarked on helping josin find out what she enjoyed doing. they bought her paint and paper, signed her up for ballet class, and put her into soccer all before she entered elementary school. josin enjoyed most things, especially ballet and art. in fourth grade, josin decided against continuing soccer and came home from school with a sleek, long flute. it was easy to see that the girl had creative flare. after working with the flute and playing in the school band for two years, jos tried out for the school choir in sixth grade and unleashed a big voice that no one knew was there.
through middle school, jos kept up with her ballet, the school band, and the choir while honing her voice with a private vocal coach. marc and sofia didn't exactly come from much money, but they had begun saving for jos's future before she was born and, with a voice like hers, they knew that it'd be a big pay off. in eighth grade, before high school started, josin sent in her application and auditioned for CAPA-creative and performing arts of pittsburgh. right before christmas that same year, she received an acceptance letter into the vocal music program.
transferring to a new school for high school may be one thing, but transferring from public school to capa was a whole other ballpark. capa was a k-12 school, so many of her classmates knew each other, but there were also dozens of other new students starting too. the first day, jos realized just how competitive it would get; she was pushed around, challenged by several other talented singers, and had a lot to prove to her teachers. it was 2004 and she was just turning thirteen (she was enrolled in kindergarten early) when she started those classes. vocal training for most of the day, along with all the required classes. it was hard work, especially for someone her age. during her sophomore year, josin decided that she'd add on to her schedule and try acting as well. in sixth grade, she'd starred in the school musical and she knew that being able to act could also help her chances in the entertainment industry. though acting wasn't her first love, it quickly became knew that she had to chops to do both. again, in tenth grade, she was starring in the school musical; the only difference was that now she was starring in a performing arts school musical. her name was the talk of steel city, the bold letters in the post gazette declaring that they'd found a new star.
it all happened pretty quickly after that. plenty of respectable agents had sat in the auditorium's velvet seats and witnessed her talent. she was quickly signed with an agent and was sent to california to participate in the third bring it on movie (all or nothing), which was headed straight to dvd. after that, she grabbed up the part of charlotte adams in the short short tv show 'as the bell rings', which aired primarily between full-length shows on the disney channel. for a while, 'as the bell rings' was all that josin was working on, but she didn't return to capa. she obtained a tutor and decided to instead stay in california and audition. in 2008, when she was seventeen, josin landed a small role in 'glee', a new show that was supposed to take the world by storm.
santana lopez was a cheerleader and close friend of quinn fabray, one of the leading characters in 'glee'. for much of the first season of the show, josin was working as a character who was quite unlike herself; santana was a bit of a bully and kind of a bitch, with not much back story. she did, however, get to sing a bit in the background. josin got along with the directors and the creator of the show, along with her cast mates. she enjoyed doing something so big, even with only a little pay out.
in the second season, josin was promoted to series regular and it was found out that her character had feelings for her best friend, brittany. josin had grown up in a christian house hold and her parents didn't know what to think about their daughter playing a girl with lesbian tendencies. nevertheless, jos pushed forward and gave the work everything she had. she put a lot of herself into the character when she could, but she also enjoyed leaving santana behind and being herself when she went home.
2010, to this day, remains josin's busiest year to date. while continuing with 'glee', she set aside time to work on a book to movie adaptation called 'beastly', in which she played lindy. it was held back a year by cbs films and didn't come out until 2011, with not the best ratings. still, she enjoyed the experience of making it and made her parents happy by playing a good girl who was also kissing a boy. also in 2010, jos joined a special cast of the broadway smash 'rent' for a three day run at the hollywood bowl, in which she played stripper, drug addict, and aids victim mimi marquez. to date, mimi has been her favorite role.
in 2011, jos was signed with columbia records. album release date is still to be announced. in 2012, josin made her voice acting debut in the movie 'hotel transylvania' as mavis, dracula's daughter.
somehow, josin made it into every episode of 'glee' to date, with her role of santana often times small, but still there. in 2014, the show wrapped its fourth season and, with dwindling ratings, was put on hiatus until december 2015. the hiatus gave jos the opportunity to take a reduced role and capable to take on newer projects.
on january 1, 2015, josin married her best friend, baseball player charlie dawson, and has never been happier.
currenty, josin is mostly modeling and traveling the country with her husband. in march 2017, she became a mother to beautiful alexa eleanor dawson. she's spending her time in la and enjoying life. at twenty-seven years old, josin is a confident, bubbly, sweet, caring, and happy girl. with or without the cameras, it's still the same.
