I came into UMass as a Spanish major, not because I was set on a career specifically using the Spanish language as its primary concentration,  but because it was a topic that I knew well and that I loved spending my time studying. Over the years, I have begun to use Spanish as a tool to access new experiences and information to figure out what exactly it is I’d like to do in the workforce. Now, in my final year at UMass as an undergraduate, a career in data science seems to be the route I am taking–but how did I get here? Surprisingly, it’s all due to my election of the Spanish major. 

I have always had many interests, academic and personal alike: cooking and food science, farming, creative writing, fashion, sports, psychology, medicine; the list goes on and on.  As a Spanish major with most of my credits from high school carrying over, I had a lot of space to explore all of these curiosities. I took courses on poetry, homesteading, translation certification, and so many more. I enjoyed most all of these endeavors,  but where I really found myself and my path was in integrative experiences,  such as internships and volunteer opportunities. Here is where I used Spanish as a tool to get myself into these situations to explore my many interests. 

One of my first experiences was a translator job at a non-profit in Holyoke, which opened my eyes to a potential career in translation. Although this position was based on my Spanish knowledge, it also afforded me the chance to build relationships with many people within the organization and build on my professional skills.  Another noteworthy experience, and the main pivot point to my current career path, was an internship in a hospital for paraplegics in Madrid, as a data science intern. The position required some level of fluency in Spanish, and I had originally applied for the position in hopes of working face-to-face with the patients at the hospital to explore my interests in working in the medical field.  What I found instead was this: my love for research and data analysis. This newfound love was found through the tool of Spanish language and caused me to apply for a master’s program in data science at UMass. I’m currently in my first year of the Data Analytics and Computational Social Science 4 + 1 Masters Program, and could not be more sure that this is the path for me. 

In conclusion, my main message here is that even if you are a Spanish major not considering Spanish as a main component of a future job, this major can serve to aid in your discovery of what that ideal future looks like for you. I am forever grateful that I chose Spanish as my primary major and will take all that I learned with me as I move forward. 

By Livia Iwanicki