Even though I’ve been learning Spanish since I could talk, I still decided to make it a part of my major here at UMass Amherst. I know what you must be thinking, this girl is looking for an easy route through college. At least that’s what some people’s opinions are. But that’s not all I do. I also study political science. Even if I only studied Spanish, I don’t think it’s fair to invalidate people’s accomplishments based on just one factor. I may not struggle with grammar or with pronunciation, but if you are studying a language at the college level then one is expected to already have some sort of background in it. Regardless, I have never personally heard of an English major being asked why they are majoring in English if they already speak it. Perspective is everything.

I originally thought that I’d only do a Spanish minor because I, too, thought it was pointless and unfair of me to get a degree in it. Because of that, I went into it not disclosing my background which to me is sad. No one should ever have to hide anything of themselves in order to accommodate other people’s feelings. But to my surprise, I was never met with any backlash. As a matter of fact, I became aware that Spanish majors come from all different kinds of backgrounds. That gave me a sense of belonging. Furthermore, I’m very passionate about the shift in Spanish usage and influence in the United States so I would like to incorporate that in my professional career. To put it simply, my goal is to be in a mainly political science field while also including my Spanish background.

Throughout my whole life, I’ve always been surrounded by poetry. From my youngest years, my mom would play songs by Luis Eduardo Aute, or Silvio Rodriguez. She would tell me epic poems from greek mythology, beautiful legends from our own culture, and more. I was always surrounded by beautiful language and beautiful songs. So, it was no wonder that I grew up to write poetry.

As someone who has long kept diaries, I think that writing is just a way for me to understand myself better- it’s therapeutic, it’s calming, it’s healing. This is not to say that I’m particularly great at writing, I definitely think that I have a long way to go in many aspects, but that’s the beauty in art- a lot of the time, we are all just searching for a way to express ourselves, and it’s all, ultimately, subjective. Writing helps me understand not just myself, but also my relationship to the world, primarily the natural world. I often feel things in a big way, and deeply, too, and I think this comes out in my writing. I begin to see everything as beautiful, tragic, magical; the mundanity of things leaves them, and everything becomes something to behold.