When I first got to UMass, I was very shy about advocating for myself. When I had any type of issue, I would usually avoid it instead of talking to my advisor (Luis Marentes). I have since come to realize the importance of meeting with advisors and appreciate all Luis has done for me over the past 4 years I’ve been here. As I’ve gone through many ups and downs during my time at UMass, I think the most important thing that I’ve learned is to not be afraid to advocate for myself. If I don’t do it, no one else will do it for me.

This semester is my last semester at UMass. This past September, I was enrolled in an intensive intermediate Italian course. It turns out that I hated it and needed to find a new class to switch into fast before the end of the add-drop period. With no luck finding anything on my own, I decided to reach out to Patricia Gubitosi, who I’ve had the pleasure of having as a professor and advisor. I told her about my dilemma, and she put me in contact with Danielle Thomas of the Spanish and Portuguese department. Professor Thomas does a lot of community work with Spanish speaking communities in and around Amherst. When I met with Professor Thomas, she told me that I could do an independent study with her. I had no idea what an independent study was before our meeting. I honestly thought it was something that graduate students do. During our meeting, she told me she was working on a research study, looking at the linguistic backgrounds of native and non-native Spanish speakers. She proposed that I could help with the study by doing data collection. Basically, my job would be interviewing Spanish speaking participants and doing several speaking activities with them. At first, I was a little bit nervous because I’m naturally a timid person, and feel like I’m not the best at talking with people. But I wanted to give it a chance because I knew it would get me out of my comfort zone.

As I’ve been doing interviews throughout the semester, I’ve come to really love it! Getting to talk to people and meet people I may have never met has been amazing. Danielle has also really made me feel valued by being a Latina data collector. She explained to me the importance of having native Spanish speakers conduct interviews with other native speakers because it can bring a sense of comfort for the participants. Independent studies can be a great way to engage with Spanish speaking communities, which as a Spanish major, is so important. This study also made me feel valued because I knew that in some way I was helping to contribute to something bigger than just a study. Eventually, the information would be used to give better resources to Spanish speaking communities through schools, and different programs.

I’ve enjoyed this independent study so much, that it’s even got me considering going to graduate school in the future to study linguistics and maybe even focus on bilingualism. I guess the moral of the story is to not be afraid to take chances and to get out of your comfort zone as much as you can. Take advantage of everything that UMass has to offer. Reach out to your professors and advisors, they are here to help you succeed! You never really know what will come out of it. Making connections with different professors at UMass can also help you to network, which can only lead to bigger and better opportunities. I wish I had known about independent studies earlier on because I would’ve gotten more experience doing something that truly interests me. So I encourage anyone who’s decided to read this to get out there and try new things, whatever that may be.

P.S To Danielle, thank you so much for this amazing opportunity. It has been such a pleasure getting to work with you on this study.