Category Archives: Massachusetts

Bilingual Educator

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My name is Alexander Ayala-Palacin and I am recent graduate of UMass with my Bachelors in Spanish and Certificates in Interpreting Studies, Medical Spanish Interpreting, and Spanish and Health. With this resume many would assume I am on my way to be a medical interpreter. I felt the same way until I received an email from Career Services that changed everything. 

Much of the responsibilities of this position was things I had experience from a job as an After School Counselor in a Elementary School, so I felt confident of my ability to perform the work, and it seemed something that I could realistically do, a first step after graduating. Otherwise I had no idea what I wanted to do after graduating. Continue reading →

The Power of Internships: Connecting Spanish to Internship Experiences

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I write this blog post as I finish my time as a Spanish major at UMass Amherst. Although I am sad that my time here is coming to an end, I can look positively on my experiences I have had, both at UMass and within the Spanish department. Although I have not had the study abroad experience, I can speak to some of the internship opportunities I have had during my time as a Spanish major. While I think that studying abroad is an amazing opportunity, I also think that internships can also have an impact on students, regardless of what they study. My hope of this blog post is to show that someone studying Spanish can have meaningful internships in which they use what they learned during their career as a Spanish major. I use two of my own internship experiences, one in Washington, D.C. and one in Amherst, MA, to show how internships can bring about meaningful connections with the Spanish major and how someone can complete a wide range of internships. Continue reading →

Being a Bilingual Interpreter at the Amherst Regional High School

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In my time at UMass, I have always been advised by professors and advisors to aim to complete three internships during my time at the university. Although there are plenty of resources to find jobs, I still have had a difficult time finding internships and jobs, especially ones that would allow me to use and practice my Spanish.

During my sophomore year, a classmate of mine in the Integrative Experience class told us all about his time as a Spanish-English interpreter for the Amherst Regional Public Schools district. The job sounded amazing: work in a school, work locally, and use my Spanish.

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Latin culture in our backyard

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My experience of being immersed in a Spanish speaking culture with native Spanish speakers happened right here in Massachusetts and this experience influenced not only my choice of a major but also what I want to do with the rest of my life. Many language learners believe the time spent in the classroom or studying is most important but the most valuable time but for me, the time spent interacting with natives and getting a first-hand understanding and experience of their culture was the most rewarding. It is also really rewarding/motivational to be able to immediately use the things you have learned in real world situations to help others. Continue reading →

Secondary Teacher Education Program (STEP)

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If you are a Spanish major and are strongly considering a career in secondary education, I would highly recommend looking into UMass’s Secondary Teacher Education Program (STEP). STEP is a teacher preparation program for undergraduates, and results in initial secondary (grades 5-12) licensure in Spanish. The Spanish department’s faction of the program is generally fairly small (there are only two licensure candidates, including myself, in my year), and is headed by Professor Carole Cloutier. I enrolled in the program at the end of my sophomore year, but I would advise you to speak with Carole as soon as possible to avoid feeling rushed. Continue reading →

The Value of Internships

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Early into my senior year at UMASS Amherst, I have been fortunate enough to have two internship opportunities that have not only related to my focus in Spanish and International Relations, but have also helped me develop confidence in my own abilities to handle such environments after I graduate in May.
My first internship came this past winter/spring at a non-profit organization named Verité, which operates out of Amherst. At Verité, I was a student researcher and aided in the development of reports that would, in turn, bring attention and support to workers that did not receive compensation worth the work that they were doing, and to illegal activity along the supply chains. Continue reading →

Holyoke Tutorial

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I never thought there were any alternatives to study abroad coming in as a freshman here at UMass Amherst. All of my previous advisors had told me that I have to go abroad as a Spanish major and that was it. It wasn’t until taking the Spanish 394 class with Luis Marentes that I found out about being able to work with students at the Holyoke Boys and Girls Club counted as my integrative experience requirement. People ask me if I regret the decision of choosing this over studying abroad, but my answer is always the same. I overtly enjoyed my experience at the Holyoke Boys and Girls Club ever since the first day I started there. Continue reading →

There’s more out there than Studying Abroad

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If you’re a Portuguese or Spanish major, you know that a requirement for graduating at UMass is completing your Integrative Experience (IE). Most students complete this requirement by going Abroad their sophomore/junior year of college. But what happens if you can’t study abroad for various reasons?

Well, that happened to me. Coming into UMass, I had no idea what I wanted major in. I was unfamiliar with the “college education system” because I was first-generation American and college student. So my family and I had no idea what college would truly be like. I thought I picked the college I wanted to go to and then I would pick my career path, which for me was education, and that was it. I would study to become a teacher, which isn’t necessarily false now. But I had to pick a new major because UMass doesn’t have an Elementary Education major, only a minor. So after discussing with my support systems (family, friends, and Peer Mentor), I choose to major in Portuguese and be a part of the Spanish & Portuguese Department. It was a really good fit for me because I knew some Portuguese beforehand and wanted to improve upon my language. It’s a small program which allowed me to really connect with the faculty and my classmates. Continue reading →

From Study Abroad to Research: The Gradual Shift

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For a while I have known that I wanted to be a teacher, but I always struggled with which subject I would teach. After taking Spanish in middle and high school and going on a trip to Spain my junior year of high school, I knew that I wanted to pursue the Spanish language and culture more in depth. When I first came to the University of Massachusetts it was assumed that I would study abroad in a Spanish-speaking country. I mean, if I wanted to teach Spanish to others, I should have studied in a Spanish-speaking country. I should speak with natives and I should surround myself with their culture. At the beginning of my time at UMASS I wanted to study for a semester in Spain, then I decided I wanted to study for an entire academic year. However, something changed as I continued my career at UMASS. As I began to take the required education courses in order to get my license to teach, I realized that I wanted to be more on the education side of things. I became fascinated with research and how education could be used for liberation. I saw the social justice side of education as a highly important aspect of our society, and I wanted to continue to explore it. Continue reading →