I transferred to UMASS in Fall 2017 from a community college. Coming in as a Junior, it has been stressful trying to make the most out of my UMASS experience and making use of everything the university has to offer. I spent most of my first semester feeling overwhelmed with prospects of studying abroad, service-learning and internships. Even deciding to have Spanish be my only major was a drawn-out internal struggle. At the beginning of the semester I questioned how much I was getting out of being a Spanish major. It seemed to me that most courses focused more on the culture of Spain, and I have more interest in learning about Latin American Culture. I’m from the Pioneer Valley originally so a lot of my interest in Spanish came from my connections with the Latinx population in the area, much of which is Puerto Rican. I want to do Social Work after I graduate so I spent a lot of time exploring the BDIC program (Bachelors Degree with Individual Concentration) with the hopes that I could take classes in departments that would benefit my career goals. I met with multiple advisors, making sure to advocate for myself and make connections with faculty – which is something I believe is extremely important for all students to do. I had even applied and been accepted to the BDIC program and planned to incorporate Spanish and Latino Studies classes with Psychology and Sociology classes. 

When the time came to register for Spring classes, I found myself still drawn to many Spanish classes.

I wanted to take them all, but I didn’t want to overwhelm myself with too many classes like I had done in the Fall. Spanish has always been a passion of mine, and though I had earlier questioned how much I was getting out of the major, I began to realize the ways I had already benefited from the Spanish courses I was taking. I speak Spanish at work with coworkers who are from El Salvador, and they have noticed the improvement I’ve made in my speaking since I started school. When I looked at the list of Spanish courses offered and found interest in all of them, I realized that my passion still lies in Spanish. I realize that I can go to graduate school for Social Work and that I want to take advantage of language courses while they are available to me. I realized that a lot of my ambivalence about the path I’m taking was due to the adjustment period of transferring to UMASS. Now that I have a semester under my belt, I feel confident and excited to continue my Spanish studies.

I do want to further enrich my university experience and Spanish studies in one way or another beyond taking classes in Herter Hall. Because my interest in Spanish extends to Latin American culture, I decided to explore classes offered through the Five College Consortium in Latin American, Caribbean and Latino Studies. The Five College Consortium is a unique and awesome opportunity, and I think more students should take advantage of being able to take classes on the beautiful campuses of the private colleges in the area at no additional cost. I plan to take a course at Hampshire College this spring about Puerto Rico and I’m really looking forward to it! Still, I hope to enrich my studies with an immersive experience.

My Integrative Experience requirement is fulfilled because I did study abroad through my community college – I spent one month in Guatemala taking Spanish classes – but I would really love to study abroad again. As I expressed earlier, as a transfer I feel very limited in the amount of time I have to fulfill requirements and make connections at UMASS. For these reasons I didn’t feel like I could study abroad for an entire semester, but I am looking into summer programs and I hope to do one in Cuba. A month isn’t ideal for immersion – and it may not be a transformative experience that is so often the narrative people hear about studying abroad – but I cannot stress enough how beneficial it is to go abroad for language-learning and cultural competence.

As a student whose path is a little less than traditional, I have a couple of ideas that I want to express to other language-learners. The first one is that you cannot learn a language by just taking classes. Learning a language is not learning how to communicate, learning a language is done through communication. The second one relates to the first one in the sense that practice is key! Spanish is not like riding a bike, you could easily forget it if you don’t use it. Think about all of your friends who took Spanish throughout high school and don’t remember any of it. Practice! Go abroad! Achieving fluency is not a goal that can be measured in semesters. If you’re studying Spanish because you want to spend a semester in Spain, then that’s cool, go for it, you don’t need to take my advice. If you’re studying Spanish because you want to be able to communicate with the Latinos you encounter in the US, then go and communicate with the Latinos you encounter in the US! It can go a long way for you to be vulnerable in another language for those whose first language isn’t English. Its okay if you make mistakes, that’s how you learn.