Author Archives: Siobhan Elvin

Societas keynote speech given by Siobhan Elvin (2014) at Boston Latin School (2019)

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SOCIETAS

BOSTON LATIN SCHOOL MODERN FOREIGN LANGUAGE HONOR SOCIETY

2019 INDUCTION CEREMONY

KEYNOTE SPEAKER:  ALUMNA SIOBHAN ELVIN, CLASS OF 2010

Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. I cannot express what an honor and a privilege it is to be invited to speak to you all here today at my alma mater for the 2019 Boston Latin School Societas Induction Ceremony. First and foremost, I want to extend my sincerest congratulations to all of this year’s inductees: you should truly all be proud of what an amazing achievement it is to join the Societas Modern Foreign Languages Honor Society. By meeting or acceding the rigorous qualifications necessary to be invited to join Societas, you have demonstrated that you possess an invaluable skillset that will only continue to open doors for you after your time at BLS comes to an end. I also want to recognize on this evening all of the inductees’ families and teachers that played a role in preparing these students to get where they are today. Without all of you, none of this would be possible.

It was Charlemagne who first said, “To have another language is to possess a second soul.” I don’t remember when I heard this for the first time or where I may have picked it up along the way, but this powerful quote has always been something that has really stuck with me and summed up everything I feel about Modern Foreign Languages in just 10 simple words. Continue reading →

Siobhan Elvin’s journey from SpanPort to District C-11

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My journey with studying Spanish and foreign languages started about 12-13 years ago at Boston Latin School; for whatever reason, I opened a Spanish book for the first time, and I instantly fell in love with the ability to communicate with people in another way. For me, it was that simple, and I couldn’t get enough. Spanish to me was like a secret code that I could talk to some friends in but not others, which fascinated me. I couldn’t help but love learning how to speak with people from different parts of the world, so we could understand each other and form relationships through our common thread: Spanish language, history, and culture. Continue reading →

The North American Language and Culture Assistants Program in Madrid – Auxiliares de Conversación 2014-2015 MADRID

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¡Hola a todos! My name is Siobhan Elvin and I am a recent UMass graduate (’14) and former student of Professor Marentes. Today I am blogging to inform current UMass senior/junior Spanish majors about what I have been up since graduation so as to hopefully motivate any of you thinking of moving abroad to a Spanish speaking country to have no fear and just GO!!!!! :)

During my last semester as a senior Spanish major at UMass, I was 180% unsure of exactly what I wanted to do after graduation. Seniors especially, welcome to the dreaded quarter life crisis that is the next 9 months of your life. I personally was terrified of the thought that May 10, 2014, meant I would no longer be a Minuteman, and that I needed a plan for postgrad life. So I did what I recommend others follow suit of: I applied to a variety of things to keep my options open and prolong my ultimate decision until the very last possible moment. I knew that I wanted to continue improving and practicing my Spanish, so I applied to UMass’ Graduate Program in Hispanic Literature and Cultures, as well as I applied to the Spanish Ministry of Education’s “Language and Culture Assistants” Program Teaching English in Spain. I was accepted to both which made me even more unsure of what I wanted to do, but after lots of thinking and tough decision making, I chose the latter, to try out new surroundings away from UMass and to return to the Spanish paradise that I had left in Salamanca just a year before. Continue reading →

The Holyoke Tutorial Program (LATINAM398A)

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A Class

In the fall of 2012, I enrolled in LATINAM 398A, more commonly known as the Holyoke Tutorial Program. This service-learning program offered to UMass Spanish and Portuguese majors allows students to earn 3 credits by volunteering at the Boys and Girls Club of Greater Holyoke’s afterschool program. My job was to act as tutor and peer mentors for the group of 5-8 year olds that participated in the program, primarily whom were underprivileged Hispanic children from Holyoke and Springfield. Initially I enrolled in LATINAM398A just to fulfill a requirement for my Certificate in Latin American, Caribbean, and Latino Studies and perhaps to broaden my experiences as a Spanish major. Yet to this day the Holyoke Tutorial Program stands out in my mind as by far the most life-changing and eye opening class I have ever taken. Continue reading →

Reflective essay: My “experience” and beginnings with Latin American and Spanish CINE

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Reflective essay: My “experience”

Studying Spanish while abroad in Salamanca, Castilla y León, España, allowed me to grow both as a person and a foreign languages student in immeasurable ways. Perhaps the most important realization that I came to as a result of my “experience”, however, was that I have a passion for the study of Spanish and Latin American Cinema, a passion that I overlooked for the first three years of my undergraduate career.

I took Latin American Cinema at UMass with my beloved advisor and professor Jose Ornelas in the spring of 2013, more or less right before I studied in Salamanca. I enrolled in the class as an “Upper-level elective” course component for my Spanish major, and simply expected that because the majority of our sources were films, it would be one of my easier courses for the semester. I was completely wrong however, and actually struggled with Latin American Cinema in its beginnings, because prior to my participation in that class I had never studied film. Continue reading →

CHANGING PERCEPTIONS OF THE SPANISH MAJOR

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When I first came to UMass, I had no idea what I wanted to major in…even less of an idea that I would end up getting a degree in Spanish. I knew shortly after I learned to walk, however, that I am not the type meant for an office job, or for that matter anything that restricts me from running around, kicking down doors, and catching bad guys. Maybe I watched way too much Law and Order growing up, but nevertheless I decided one day that I wanted to pursue military service and eventually a career as an FBI agent. I ended up enrolling at UMass in the fall of 2010 as a Political Science major.

I chose Polisci because a good friend of mine’s parents are both agents and told me it was the most useful major to pursue Government work. I also started a Spanish minor simply because I got good grades in Spanish classes in high school and figured a second language would only help my chances of making the rigorous cut into the Bureau. Continue reading →

Se queda en el extranjero

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Good morning everyone! Sorry for the ridiculous hour of this post but sometimes words come to you at odd hours, so what can you do but embrace them! So anyways this post is just a quick poem that I wrote by accident tonight when I was procrastinating doing a paper for Spanish composition. I was really tired and zoned out thinking about what I was going to write for my essay that I quickly found myself just daydreaming about my trip abroad/some of my favorite memories about it. Of course this led to a subsequent hour of going through my pictures from the trip 3 times, as well as Googling random things “Spanish”. I then accidentally stumbled upon a quote by Pablo Neruda that I really liked, and so I saved it in a Word Document and started thinking about what it meant to me. The quote I am talking about reads:

“Algún día en cualquier parte, en cualquier lugar indefectiblemente, te encontrarás a ti mismo, y ésa, sólo ésa, puede ser la más feliz o la más amarga de tus horas.”- Neruda

Or in English,

“Someday, somewhere – anywhere, unfailingly, you’ll find yourself, and that, and only that, can be the happiest or bitterest hour of your life.” – Pablo Neruda

More or less, I love this quote. I particularly appreciate and can reflect on Neruda’s words because upon reading it, it immediately reminded me of one specific (no matter how brief) moment of my trip that I will never forget. Continue reading →

MY UMASS SPANPORT STUDY ABROAD & SERVICE LEARNING EXPERIENCES – by SIOBHAN ELVIN, SPANISH ’14

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¡Hola queridos!

Writing here as a student involved in the Integrative Experience/Spanish & Portuguese studies here at UMass Amherst to bring you up to speed on what I have personally been doing over the past few months with my studies, travel, service learning, etc! I hope this post helps give SPANPORT students interested in Study Abroad/Service Learning helpful information as well as some ideas/suggestions about the opportunities that are available to them if they are looking to get more involved. If anything I talk about in this post about interests you please do not hesitate to email me with questions. My information is on the bottom of this page. I love the Spanish & Portuguese Department here at UMass so I would be more than happy to help others take advantage of as many opportunities as possible here. Continue reading →

Un fin de semana en Lisboa, Portugal

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¡Hola otra vez!

Last night we got back from Portugal where our group spent the weekend traveling. Up until this trip, I can honestly say I have never been interested in studying Portuguese culture or language, simply because I never knew anything about it or came into contact with it. However I absolutely loved the beautiful city of Lisbon, the small villages we visited up in the mountains, and the very rich and unique food we found in restaurants scattered about the city. We spent four days and three nights in Lisbon, taking small day trips to visit the countryside and beaches. I didn’t expect to gain such a love for Portugal so quickly but everything was just so beautiful and exciting I couldn’t help but absolutely adore it. Continue reading →

Salamanca Summer 2013

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plaza-mayor-salamanca-noche.jpg_548

¡Hola! I am happily writing from la ciudad de Salamanca, España, where I am currently studying abroad for the month of July! Salamanca is an absolutely amazing city. My first impressions came from the beautiful Plaza Mayor and Universidad de Salamanca which light up the electric blue sky as the sun sets every night. My breath was actually taken away as I stepped foot onto the beautiful cobblestone streets for the very first time. I can’t explain it in words you just have to come and experience the magic that is in the air here for yourself! Continue reading →