Author Archives: kcdoherty

A Salamanca Adventure

Since I became a Spanish major I couldn’t wait to study abroad. It was an absolutely terrifying thought to me, a natural homebody, but the thought of traveling to a completely different country was both thrilling and nervewracking at the same time. So, freshman me thought I’d go to some Spanish-speaking country sophomore year. Then, sophomore me thought I would go junior year, and then… it was junior year spring semester. When people tell you that your college years fly by, they are not kidding. So here I am junior year spring semester taking an Integrative Experience course because I wasn’t able to study abroad when the one and only marvelous, Patricia Gubitosi tells our linguistics class about a summer study abroad program to Salamanca. I quickly google Salamanca on a map and see it is practically a desert, surrounded by land, not close to the water at all. Continue reading →

My Path to Becoming a Spanish Major

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When I came to UMass Amherst as a freshman I was not originally a Spanish major, I was actually a Sociology major. Upon one or two courses as that major, I quickly realized I didn’t have a passion for it, and I found myself leaning towards becoming a Spanish major. Cut to me meeting Luis Marentes for the first time and talking to him about becoming a Spanish major. I was immediately asked the following questions: Why did I want to be a Spanish major? Why don’t I just use a language teaching app or program to learn Spanish? What did I ultimately want to get out of this major? I will admit that I didn’t know the answers to all of his questions but I just knew I wanted to continue (from high school) learning Spanish because of my lifelong passion for it. Continue reading →

Enjoying and Taking Advantage of Span-394

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When I enrolled in Spanish 394, I really had no idea what would go on in the almost two hour long lecture class. It was the first part of the integrative experience courses that are now required for the Spanish major. The class is small enough that talking and sharing my opinions didn’t make me anxious as I might’ve been in a huge lecture, and made me feel more of a part of the class. The class meets only once a week and only requires some papers and weekly forum posts about events happening in the Latinx world. My professor, Luis Marentes, brought in different people every other week or so which was so, so helpful to me. One week he brought in a woman who knew all about Study Abroad Programs, and since I plan on studying abroad my junior year spring semester, having and hearing her in the class gave me more insight. Luis also brought in someone from career services who gave the class advice on what to do during the rest of our time here at UMass, and even after, when we’re out in the real world. She made me realize I should make an appointment with her so I can figure out/ get a better idea on what career choices I can have after graduation.
Overall, this class was way more helpful than I thought it was going to be. I especially think having guest speakers come in and advise us was super beneficial while maybe not to the seniors in my class, but to the sophomores like me. I’m glad that this class was added to the requirements because of speakers who came in and hearing about study abroad experiences from upper class men Spanish majors as well.