While reading through this blog, searching for ideas to write my post on, I came across a post that I felt really applied to me, titled “How the Spanish Major Has Prepared Me for the Future.” I wholeheartedly agree with the statement in the title of this post, and wanted to share my own story with my major and why I am passionate about Spanish.

I have always loved learning about Spanish. I took my first Spanish class in sixth grade, and I was always eager to learn more. In high school, my Spanish and Film classes were always my favorite, needless to say that I am currently double majoring in Spanish and Film Studies here at UMass. Even though my passion for Film Studies only started around my junior year of high school, my career aspirations have always included some form of Spanish component. From wanting to work in a government role using Spanish and now leaning towards international documentary filmmaking, Spanish is a large part of my career goals. 

Last year, my primary major was Linguistics and Spanish with my secondary being Film Studies. However, upon starting my Spanish courses this semester and starting to prepare to go abroad, I realized that I didn’t want to learn about Linguistics with a concentration in Spanish because I am so invested in my Spanish studies, though I am still interested in Linguistics. Due to this, I decided to change my primary major to Spanish and add a Linguistics minor in September. A course I took this semester very much confirmed that decision for me: General View of Hispanic Linguistics (SPAN 470). As I have already taken a few Linguistics courses for the minor (then major), I thought that this would be the perfect course to enroll in to combine my interests. This course expanded my knowledge about both Spanish and Linguistics, and I highly recommend it to anyone with the same interests. I found it incredibly unique to look both at linguistics through the lens of Spanish and Spanish through the lens of linguistics, with culture, Latin evolution, syntax, phonology, etc.

Next summer, I plan on broadening my Spanish knowledge and cultural horizons by pursuing a study abroad program in Salamanca, Spain, run through API with UMass faculty. I have several friends who have participated in this program and come back to UMass with so many new experiences. One of my main priorities for a study abroad program is to have full language immersion, and I feel that staying with a host family and taking classes at the University of Salamanca would be perfect for me to gain more real-world experience as speaking Spanish is not my most confident area.

Taking the first course of the integrative experience (SPAN 394PI) with Professor Luis Marentes was essential for me, taking the time to figure out all of these aspects of my studies, what was important to me, and best serving the different communities I am a part of. Learning from Luis and my peers about all of the opportunities surrounding us locally and globally pushed me to think about all of the things I could actually be doing with my major. There were so many questions that brought me to think more critically about my future abroad and my courses now at UMass. I also feel a lot better knowing that I am surrounded by students such as my peers in my IE course that share the same passions and we can use each other to figure out what’s next.

Thank you “snewhall” for the inspiration and to Luis for making me think outside of the box about studying abroad and my major!