Category Archives: Our Class

Growing through Language

I first encountered Spanish when I was in fifth grade. I remember it vividly. I had just moved to a new school, and all of my classmates had started Spanish classes in kindergarten, so they were way ahead of me. At the start of my first class, my teacher walked in and began speaking Spanish, and I slouched down in my seat in the hopes that she wouldn’t notice that I was there. She did. She walked over to me and smiled gently when she saw the look of terror on my face. “You’ve never taken Spanish before, have you?” she asked. All I could do was shake my head no.

Throughout the course of that year, my teacher was a constant source of encouragement. She would pull me aside in class and help me with my vocabulary, she stayed after school to help me practice sentence structure and writing skills, and she set me up with an online language software so I could practice speaking the language. These lessons were all very helpful and appreciated, but the best thing that she ever did was start speaking only in Spanish for the second half of the school year. By the end of the year, I was able to read whole stories that I hadn’t been able to understand at all in September. This was the first time that I had ever been exposed to another language, and the first time that I had really stopped to consider what life outside of the United States might be like. This experience opened a whole new door for me. It gave me a sense of confidence in myself, it made me realize that I loved learning about languages and cultures, and it opened my eyes to the possibilities of traveling in the future. Something just “clicked” for me that year. It felt natural to speak a new language, and I knew then that I had to continue with it.

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Mi latinidad and love for science

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Hello! I am a student double majoring in Biochemistry and Spanish. I am also planning on getting the Spanish and Health Certificate offered at UMass. My spanish major relates greatly to my biochemistry major because it allows me to formulate my thoughts through different lenses. Many times in the biochemistry core classes students only focus on memorizing and analyzing material in a more factual way. My Spanish major has allowed me to take classes where we discuss humanitarian problems occurring not just in medical settings, but all over the globe. I truly believe taking Spanish classes have allowed me to mentality relax during the semester and not stress too much over my science courses. I do believe studying is important but my Spanish class discussion reminds me that there are far more important things than just your studies to worry about. My Spanish class discussion reminds me there is work to be done, not until I graduate from college or medical school, but change that can be worked for currently. I truly believe my Spanish and biochemistry majors complement each other. Taking classes in the liberal arts and science college is such an amazing curriculum to follow. The Spanish classes allow me to stay true to my roots by reminding me of the beauty in my latinidad and learning to embrace it, even as it shows up in my science careers. Being aware of one’s identity is super important as it allows youth to acknowledge what position you are in and how to manipulate this in a beneficial way for others. Helping others looks differently, but the reason and passion to help should always come from selfless motives.

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Service-Learning in Cusco, Perú

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When I went abroad to Cusco, Perú, my program offered a service-learning component. The service-learning component acted as a deciding factor for me to go through the program. The program offered several options for service-learning placements including at an alpaca farm, afterschool programs, kindergartens, medical centers, and a human rights organization. They conducted phone interviews the winter before I left with those who signed up for service-learning. During the phone interview, they took note of my level of Spanish fluency. We had a basic conversation, asking where I was from, where I went to school, and what I enjoy doing. This conversation mattered because some positions, like the human rights organization, required higher levels of fluency whereas the alpaca farm did not require these levels of Spanish. They also asked what I was looking for in a position. I told them that when I went abroad, my main goal was to gain Spanish fluency, and I viewed service-learning as an opportunity to speak more Spanish with the local community. I ranked working with children and the human rights organizations as my top two choices. They gave me options on the same call, saying I could do either. They recommended that if my goal was indeed to practice Spanish, working with children would be my best bet. The other position revolved around administrative tasks and Microsoft Excel which would have also been a great opportunity, but I figured I could develop these skills just as easily with an English-speaking position in the United States. I confirmed being placed with children. Continue reading →

Choosing Perú

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When I started touring universities in high school, I had no idea what I was looking for. I had yet to reflect on what I wanted out of my college experience. Even the thought of addressing my future scared me. As a result, I did not know what to look for in colleges. However, the one thing I remained decisive about was that I wanted to study abroad in college. This did not narrow down my decision since most universities I considered had study abroad programs, but I clung to it. In the end, my decision came down to money. The school that offered me the most financial aid turned out to be Providence College in Providence, Rhode Island.

At Providence, nearly all study abroad students spend the fall semester of their junior year in Barcelona. I am sure that if I had stayed at Providence, I would have followed this path most travelled. However, I did not stay at Providence. I had to learn what I wanted out of my college experience the hard way, and as soon as I got to Providence I realized I needed a less homogenous campus culture. So after a year there, I transferred to UMass. Continue reading →

Hay más tiempo que vida

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When I think about the idea of “culture shock”, the first thing that comes to mind is an uncomfortable experience related to a difference between my culture and another one. In Luis’ IE class this semester, we read the essay “You Have Left Your Lotus Pods on the Bus”. In that essay, the author told a story about being on a bus in Thailand and there being a person at the back of the bus yelling out instructions to the driver as a “back seat driver” would here in the U.S. The narrator feels tense and worried about the situation, and eventually realizes that this is a customary practice in Thailand, that this person’s job is to shout directions at the driver. The tension of the essay quickly resolves.

The tensions of culture shock are usually resolved in this way—sometimes quickly and other times slowly. Over time, one becomes accustomed to their new environment, and hopefully stops comparing the culture they are visiting to their home culture. But the theme of culture shock that I’m interested in exploring in this blog post is the idea that sometimes by adjusting to a new culture, we learn about our own temperaments. Specifically, I want to explore my experience of time while I was in Costa Rica and think about how my relationship to time has changed since I went to Costa Rica and came back. Continue reading →

Nicaragua and Becoming a Spanish Major

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I have always had a good relationship with Spanish ever since I took my first Spanish class in 7th grade. I remember having to choose whether I wanted to take Spanish or French in Middle school and it was such an easy decision. I enjoyed the way my teacher taught the class and I always did well. My relationship only grew when my brother got a job at the local ski mountain. He worked with a bunch of kids from Argentina, Peru, and Brazil. I was so amazed at how nice and welcoming these people were. They would meet someone once and immediately become their friend. As a result I started to work at the same place and made some friends of my own. While these things contributed to my decision, my love for Spanish really endured during high school. Continue reading →

Ask a Question or Two

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I thought that I was incredibly unqualified for writing a blog post because I am a sophomore with no concrete study abroad, internship, or career plans. Nor do I have plans really beyond the next few months. And I realize that statement might induce a heart attack for UMass professors, advisors, and any other faculty members. That is not to say I do not think about the future at all, because I do constantly. I just hate deciding on one life path, and I frequently get antsy and need to change my environment, which leads my life to be semi-unpredictable. Perhaps that is just my excuse for lacking in preparing myself for the future, but it is true. It is also true that I am pretty clueless about what I want to do, where I want to live, and who I want to be in life. But, I am slowly learning it, as well as what I do not want to do, where I do not want to live, and who I do not want to be. Continue reading →

The Versatility of the Spanish Major

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If you’re a Spanish major you’re likely familiar with the question, “Oh, so are you going to teach or interpret?” In fact, you may have been asked that question so many times that you start to believe teaching and interpreting are your only options. My focus started to narrow to interpreting or teaching just a few weeks into starting college, largely because of this question. By the end of my second semester, I had decided on medical interpreting and enrolled in Spanish interpreting classes. Interpreting seemed like a good option given the current job market and average salary but at the same time, I just wasn’t sold. While I find the level of skill and language proficiency of interpreters admirable, I could tell it wasn’t the professional field for me. I also already knew I had no interest in being a teacher so I was left feeling like my choice in major was pointless. Continue reading →

The Spanish major means more than learning the language

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My motivation for choosing to major in Spanish stemmed from how much I enjoyed my Spanish classes in high school. Although the grammar and vocabulary lessons never quite thrilled me, I loved learning about the history and culture of the Spanish-speaking world and still do. I felt that I took to the language well, so might as well major in it.

In this class, however, I’ve learned that the Spanish major means more than a perfect knowledge of Spanish vocabulary, more than mastering the rough terrain of subjunctives, more than sporting the best Spanish accent, more than memorizing the pasts of Spain and South America. This class taught me that to truly understand the language, one must understand its people. Continue reading →

Language-Learning without leaving the US

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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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