My experience with the Spanish language and culture is slightly different than the majority of students I have met throughout my time at UMass. When I was 11 years old, my parents sat my brother and I down and told us that we would be leaving the town we had lived in our whole lives to move to a third world country. At this time in my life I had never even traveled outside of the United States. After many tears and much resistance, I eventually tried to come to terms with the fact that we would be expanding our worlds and moving to Costa Rica.

I was then exposed to Spanish for the first time, in weekly tutoring sessions leading up to the move. I was given a very basic foundation of the language, that was not very useful when we were thrown into the fully Spanish-speaking country. The first few months of living there were rocky. My brother and I attended an American International school, where the classroom instruction was given in English. That being said, most of the students’ native language was Spanish, so that’s what was spoken during recess, lunch and even in the bathrooms. I remember one occurrence where my mother took me to Burger King, but did not know how to order a plain cheeseburger. The food came out wrong and she burst into tears because she was so frustrated that she could not communicate in Spanish! After that, I was determined to become bilingual. It took about a year and a half of constant exposure and practice for me to finally feel confident in my Spanish ability. I spent the rest of my time in Costa Rica continuing to learn more of the language and explore the culture of the beautiful country. My family and I lived abroad for 3 years, and then moved back to the town I grew up in.

We returned to the South Shore of Massachusetts the summer before I started high school. I used Spanish less frequently when I was home, but tried to practice when I could. I took Spanish classes all throughout school, and realized the difference in the language based on region. The Costa Rican Spanish that I had originally learned, used words and grammatical structures different from those I was being taught in high school. I continued to further my understanding of the variation of the language when I participated in an International Exchange Program. I went to Madrid for 10 days where I lived with a Spanish-speaking family. I was shown around parts of the country and was able to be fully immersed in Spanish culture once again! I loved every second I was in Spain, and would give anything to be able to return. My Spanish journey continued my senior year, when I set up an Independent Study for myself to be an assistant to the middle school Spanish teacher in my town. I helped her for about an hour a day, until the spring when I was able to complete a Senior project, allowing me to spend every school day assitant teaching. That opportunity was one that I will cherish forever.

Now here I am, a sophomore at UMass Amherst, just having completed my first semester as a Spanish major. Being exposed to Spanish again these last few months has been extremely beneficial. Even though I have been out of practice for a while and consider myself quite rusty, I know this language is a lasting passion of mine. I am not completely sure where the future will take me (hopefully to studying abroad in Spain), but I know that I want to use this gift that I have been given to help others. Whether that means working in immigration, the legal system, a classroom or even international affairs. I am thankful for all of the experiences and things I have gotten to do with Spanish and I cannot wait to continue on my journey!