I transferred to UMASS in Fall 2017 from a community college. Coming in as a Junior, it has been stressful trying to make the most out of my UMASS experience and making use of everything the university has to offer. I spent most of my first semester feeling overwhelmed with prospects of studying abroad, service-learning and internships. Even deciding to have Spanish be my only major was a drawn-out internal struggle. At the beginning of the semester I questioned how much I was getting out of being a Spanish major. It seemed to me that most courses focused more on the culture of Spain, and I have more interest in learning about Latin American Culture. I’m from the Pioneer Valley originally so a lot of my interest in Spanish came from my connections with the Latinx population in the area, much of which is Puerto Rican. I want to do Social Work after I graduate so I spent a lot of time exploring the BDIC program (Bachelors Degree with Individual Concentration) with the hopes that I could take classes in departments that would benefit my career goals. I met with multiple advisors, making sure to advocate for myself and make connections with faculty – which is something I believe is extremely important for all students to do. I had even applied and been accepted to the BDIC program and planned to incorporate Spanish and Latino Studies classes with Psychology and Sociology classes. 

When the time came to register for Spring classes, I found myself still drawn to many Spanish classes.

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