As a junior at Umass, my perception of the Spanish major has changed immensely over my time here. Even just in the past year I have had so many changes in my views. I first thought I would graduate a year late, which later changed to just a semester late. Then I decided at the very last possible second to study abroad, which further changed my academic plan. I thought I would graduate a year early, which later became a semester. I thought I was on track to become an actuary, which then turned into me dropping the math major entirely. My perception towards both my majors have changed plenty since coming to Umass.
I applied to Umass expecting to be undeclared, however my acceptance letter said very clearly that I was in the Spanish department. I planned on majoring in Spanish and math anyways, so it didn’t change much. As a freshman I didn’t really have any idea of what a Spanish major was or what you could do with it. I had the narrow idea that it was just a major where you got good at the language. As a junior I now see that it is so much more.
Every semester I fall more and more in love with the Spanish language and the department here at Umass. There is no most memorable class for me, because they have all been amazing. The teachers here love what they teach and know how to make it fun and interesting for students. Advanced Grammar with Luis Amaral was the first Spanish class I took here, and it squashed any doubts I had about the major. This was most definitely the place for me.
As I took more major specific classes, I started to realize that it wasn’t just about the Spanish language. The Spanish major helps you understand a language that connects the cultures of countries all over the world. Spanish Phonetics with Meghan Armstrong was one of my all time favorite classes.
As strange as it may be, the math department at Umass has changed my relation to the Spanish major. At the moment I am second-guessing my secondary major. Coming back from a semester abroad changed everything. Going from sitting in math classes, to Spanish classes reminded me of how much I love Spanish, and how I should love something if I plan on doing it for the rest of my life. I don’t seem to enjoy math anymore. The math major reassured me once more that Spanish is the major for me.
My experience abroad is definitely the greatest factor in the changing of my view of the Spanish major. Last semester I took a culture and civilization class, but was also able to experience what I was learning about in real life. I began to understand why the major has all the requirements it does. The language classes are only a small part of it. They only give you the means of delving further into the multitude of topics that ‘Spanish’ covers. It’s not just about the language; it’s about the culture. It’s not just about Spain; it’s about all the countries around the world that speak the language.
As I’ve grown into my major, I’ve learned that I’m not as restricted in my options as I once thought I was. Freshman year I declared a Spanish and math double major and that was it. That’s what I was going to do for the rest of college. And then when I graduated I would teach, and that’s what I would do for the rest of my life. Now I’m a junior and I’m realizing, I can change my college career as much as I want to make it suit me and my needs. There is also an endless list of jobs I can go into. The world has gotten so much bigger.
In middle school and high school when we started learning Spanish, there wasn’t much differentiation between the countries. Spain, Mexico, and Puerto Rico all kind of morph together. We learned about different vocab from all over the world, but we weren’t told where the different words came from. There was no explanation as to why there were different words or why it was important. In some senses people in the US are lazy and self-involved and like to generalize. With regards to holidays like the day of the dead and the running of the bulls, we just basically learned that these things exist but didn’t bother to talk about where they come from and their importance.
It seems insignificant but one of the things that helped me realize it most was Spanish 378 and learning about the different dialects; all the different tiny minute differences in accents and spoken language and how people in the hispanic community can hear someone speak and know where their family is from. Whereas people in the US like to compartmentalize and just hear Spanish and label it as coming from Mexico or Spain. And even within the label of one country there is such diversity within that. People don’t think about the fact that people in the south of spain speak completely different from the north. Even though in the US people have different accents and cultures all around the country. People here just don’t bother thinking about the rest of the world.
So from a skewed image of the Spanish-speaking world when I starting learning Spanish in middle school, to my much more well-rounded view of it today, my perception of the Spanish major and the world in general have changed and matured greatly during my time here and with Spanish overall.