The first time I was ever truly interested in what I was learning was in the fall of 2021. I was a sophomore in Professor Armstrong-Abrami’s class “Spanish in the US”. The class was a Hispanic Linguistics class that focused on the different dialects of Spanish in the United States, including their history, geography, and linguistic elements. In this class, I became strikingly interested in the dialects of a language and the factors that influence dialects. So much new and captivating information was being thrown at me each class, and I couldn’t get enough of it. What really resonated with me was learning about the history of linguistic discrimination against Puerto Rican Spanish speakers and heritage speakers in Holyoke, along with the lack of educational resources for these speakers. It was happening so close to UMass and I was completely unaware, which made me really want to get involved.

For the final project in this class, I had to do a research project. My group decided to research linguistic discrimination in heritage speakers of both Spanish and Portuguese. We did a pilot study and presented our findings to the class. Professor Armstrong-Abrami loved our project so much that she suggested we continue our research and present at the Massachusetts Undergraduate Research Conference the following semester. So, I enrolled in a research course credit and we expanded on the research, testing more participants and a larger variety of participants. I didn’t know why I was so eager to do research on this at first; I just wanted as much information as I could get. But, sooner or later, I realized that this was my calling. Now, I know it sounds dramatic, but just bear with me. This class opened the door for me in my studies. It made me realize that there are so many things I can do with my major.

Throughout the spring 2022 semester, I conducted and analyzed research on language discrimination in the New England area, while also taking another Hispanic Linguistics class and two TESOL classes. I started looking into all sorts of courses and extracurriculars that would help me gain as much knowledge as possible about the world of Hispanic Linguistics in my pursuit to somehow make a difference for second-language learners of English and/or heritage speakers of Spanish in my community. At the end of this semester, after presenting at the Massachusetts Undergraduate Research Conference, my next step was to apply to the Commonwealth Honors College. This way, I would be able to construct a thesis and conduct extensive research about something that actually interests me. 

Almost a year after finishing the course, I’ve been accepted into the honors program and I’m preparing to study abroad next semester before returning to start my thesis. While there were some other additional factors such as my love for the Spanish language and my need to enroll in more course credits to graduate, I really can say that taking Professor Armstrong-Abrami’s “Spanish in the US” changed the trajectory of my studies for the better. I don’t have everything figured out, but I have enough figured out, with an endless amount of research to be done and a long list of potential career paths for me to explore.