Author Archives: csolem

My Changing Perceptions of the Major

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. Continue reading →

Spanish Phonetics

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The classes in the Spanish major are absolutely fantastic. I have heard from many people in other majors that their required classes have no immediate benefits; it’s just a bunch of arbitrary knowledge that they are expected to know for some reason. I have noticed the exact opposite in the Spanish department. Every single class I have taken has helped me in real time and I have been able to put into practice the things I am learning. Last fall I took Spanish 378 Spanish Phonetics with Meghan Armstrong and it was one of the most useful classes I have taken in college. I noticed changes and improvements in my spoken Spanish almost immediately. Continue reading →

Why this program?

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I am planning to study abroad next semester in Granada, Spain. This decision was made fairly recently. At the beginning if this semester I had no intention of studying abroad so soon. But as I thought more about it next semester seemed to be the only option for me.

As some of you know I am in the marching band here at Umass. The band here is an enormous part of my life. I knew I didn’t want to miss fall semester, because that would mean missing band. I knew I didn’t want to go senior year, because there are a lot of important things that I wouldn’t want to miss. Many people suggested going on a short winter or summer study abroad program. I ruled this out because of financial reasons. If I went during the winter or summer, I would be paying for an extra semester of school. Whereas with fall and spring I would just be replacing a semester at Umass with a semester abroad. That left the spring semester of my second and third year here. As I entered this semester, I assumed it was too late to sign up to study abroad the very next semester. But as the date approached, I realized that next semester made the most sense for me and my studies. Continue reading →